DMK wants to teach CPI-M a lesson

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's decision to withdraw its four ministers from the United Front government has sent shockwaves across the country.

However, DMK leader and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi has left enough room for changing his mind by declaring that the withdrawal of his party's ministers from the Gujral government was only "temporary."

That the DMK had some reservations about goings-on in the United Front has been known for some time. Though the party did not express its reservations in public, it did not take kindly to the downgrading of Minister of State for Petroleum T R Baalu, who originally held independent charge, but now has a Cabinet minister above him.

The DMK also expected to be compensated for the appointment of Tamil Maanila Congress leader Jayanti Natarajan as a minister of state, taking the TMC's tally to five ministers against the four DMK ministers in the Gujral ministry.

The DMK's statement, without naming the CPI-M, attacks that party for what it perceives as the Communists hijacking the Front and dictating terms to its other constituents. Of immediate concern is the CPI-M diktat that the Front should have nothing to do with the Rashtriya Janata Dal of Bihar Chief Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav, for his alleged involvement in the Rs 9.5 billion animal fodder scam. Both TMC leader G K Moopanar and Karunanidhi have maintained that the Laloo Yadav issue should be deciced upon only by the UF steering committee.

Karunanidhi has now succeeded in focusing the steering committee's attention on himself and the DMK, and away from Laloo Yadav. Both the DMK and the TMC want the RJD accommodated in the Front, and Laloo Yadav's political fate to be decided by the Bihar assembly.

Simultaneously, the DMK also wants a separate message sent across to both Gujral and Finance Minister Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram, a TMC member, on the petrol price hike issue. The DMK is worried, sources point out, that any hike in petroleum prices will affect its electoral chances, particularly since Baalu is a DMK MP. The party even passed a resolution last month, urging the Centre not to hike petroleum prices.

At the core of the DMK's strategy is the fear of early elections to the Lok Sabha. Says a party source: "Denying the RJD a place in the UF could lead to the disintegration of the United Front and early elections, which the Congress and the BJP are eagerly waiting for. Parties like the DMK, TMC and the Telugu Desam are, however, not ready to yield."

The DMK, the sources said, would do everything possible to keep the Front in office, for as long as it can. Early elections to the Lok Sabha could mean Jayalalitha Jayaram's AIADMK winning a few seats, and this arouses fears of instability in the DMK at the state-level.

"One provocation for the DMK's decision has been Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy. He has succeed in bringing together Jayalalitha and MDMK chief V Gopalswamy, who can provide a workable electoral alliance," reveals a DMK source

With the four DMK ministers holding crucial portfolios, Prime Minister I K Gujral cannot drag his feet and must take an early decision on the issues likely to be raised by the DMK at the next UF steering committee meeting. Of the four DMK ministers, Karunanidhi's nephew 'Murasoli' Maran holds the crucial industry portfolio, T G Venkataraman is in charge of transport, another infrastructure ministry crucial to the government's liberalisation regime. Among the two ministers of state, N V N Somu is at the defence ministry, and Baalu, of course, is at the petroleum ministry.

Adds the DMK source, almost as an afterthought: "You should not be surprised if at the end of it all, we return to the ministry unscathed, and the Leftists are muted. In a way, it means freeing Gujral from the CPI-M's bondage. Why, that could even lead to the Leftists leaving the United Front, prospects for which have been in the minds of leaders like Moopanar, if only to ensure greater stability for the Gujral government with the induction of Congress ministers." At the political level, the Federal Front of regional parties would then have won one more round. It will also be strengthened with the induction of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, which has no confusion about its regional identity.