Karunanidhi's moves defy logic, cause confusion

Partymen are baffled, and critics bemused. The former concede that M Karunanidhi lacks his usual clarity of expression now, but the latter say he is confused. But none is able to fathom the logic or the strategy behind the current moves of the DMK supremo on the Laloo Yadav-Rashtriya Janata Dal front.

''We had thought that he wanted Laloo Yadav and the RJD to continue in the United Front, whatever the reason, but now he seems to have gone back on that as well,'' says a leader of the Tamil Maanila Congress, the DMK's ally.

The reference is to the Tamil Nadu chief minister's statement of Sunday, revealing his compromise formula. ''His statement now is almost close to what Front spokesman and Union Information and Broadcasting Minister S Jaipal Reddy told the media after the core committee meeting on July 17. Karunanidhi now wants Laloo Prasad Yadav and the RJD to be kept out of the Front. Whether or not the Bihar chief minister quits office, or supports the Gujral government from outside, is immaterial,'' says the TMC leader.

In this context, a leader of the rival Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam refers to Karunanidhi's first salvo against the Gujral team. ''It will be unwise for the Front to close the doors on Laloo Yadav, Karunanidhi had said. Now he seems to have eaten his own words. In which case, why did he start off the row at all?'' he asks.

The MDMK leader also focuses on the confusion that followed Karunanidhi's first statement. ''A clear impression was created that the four DMK ministers at the Centre would quit forthwith. But later in the day a new interpretation was given that it was only meant to be a threat. I have read the published version of the statement, and nowhere does it imply that it is only a threat.''

The TMC leader feels the confusion might have been caused by an improper brief on the ongoing case in the Patna high court.

''Karunanidhi might have thought it out from a purely political angle, where the inclusion of the Rashtriya Janata Dal would have strengthened the Front. It would have also kept the Leftists, particularly the Communist Party of India-Marxist, in check.''

According to this leader, in case the Patna high court verdict goes against Laloo Yadav it will throw up both constitutional and moral issues which the DMK could find hard to defend.

Whatever the strategy or motive behind Karunanidhi's first salvo, that seems to have failed. The TMC leader says, ''Instead of opposing the CPI-M-Janata Dal line, as he initially desired, he seems to adopted it.'' His plan of targetting the TMC ministers at the Centre also seems to have backfired. ''He might ultimately be seen as siding with the Leftists, if together they manage to scuttle the proposed for petrol price rise. For, this will be a blow for Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram of the TMC, who has been pushing it hard.''

The TMC leader adds, ''Now, it is anybody's guess if Karunanidhi will emerge out of the issue with his credibility and much-acclaimed manipulative skills intact.''

However, a DMK leader defends Karunanidhi's position. ''At least from new on, the rest of us all in the Front will be consulted before anyone comes out with a policy pronouncement. The CPI-M was jumping the gun all the time, and so was the TMC on such matters as the Presidential elections.''

He also refutes the criticism that Karunanidhi's proposals at the core committee meeting were contradictory. ''There need be no contradiction in the RJD supporting us from outside, and three of its ministers continuing in the government. The Front itself is an experiment, and unexpected situations call for unconventional solutions.

''TMC leader Jayanthi Natarajan, who is still a Congress member in the Rajya Sabha on record, is a minister at the Centre. By the same token, why can't the RJD members continue as ministers?'' asks the DMK leader.