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N Sathiya Moorthy in Chennai
With the denial of Union ministership to P T Elangovan, Pattali Makkal Katchi Lok Sabha member from Dharmapuri constituency, differences within the once-monolithic Vanniar dominated party has come to the fore.
A K Murthy pipped Elangovan to the post of Minister of State for Railways in the recent reshuffle effected by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Though Elangovan has denied there are any differences, he was conspicuous by his absence at the swearing-in ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
After spending the previous days in Delhi, he returned home with his followers, who were prompt in putting up posters condemning the denial of ministership for him.
Elangovan was also absent at the reception to Murthy when he arrived at the Chennai Airport after becoming Minister of State for Railways. So was E Ponnuswamy, PMK general secretary.
Ponnuswamy was the second minister of state from the PMK before the party quit the NDA ahead of the Tamil Nadu assembly election last year. Party founder Ramadoss had showcased his ministerial nomination as the Vanniar party's accommodation of the Dalit community.
While a Vanniar leader in N T Shanmugam has been retained, a Vanniar in Murthy has now replaced the Dalit representative.
Insiders see in this a continuance of the PMK's efforts to end wooing the Dalit community, which has been perceived as anti-Vanniar in their combined north and north-western strongholds in the state.
Earlier, two party MLAs from the Dalit community, Sivakami Vincent and Murugavel Rajan, had distanced themselves from the 20-member PMK assembly group, alleging 'harassment' by the 'Vanniar leadership'.
The party lost a third reserved seat, Achchirupakkam, in the May bypolls, reducing the PMK's strength in the assembly to 17.
Agreeing that there is some truth in the PMK leadership's claims that the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam was trying to cause splits by playing the caste card, a party insider, however, asked, "Granted, the AIADMK had cajoled or threatened the two PMK MLAs to rebel against the leadership, but what has prompted Ramadoss to exclude Ponnuswamy, where the AIADMK's perceived influence could not have done anything?"
He also pointed out that a strong PMK leader like 'Dalit' Ezhilmalai was forced out of the party after being a successful Minister of State for Health in the Vajpayee Government.
"Ramadoss and his politically-ambitious son Anbumani, are unable to digest parallel power-centres, and this has put a premium on loyalty than performance-orientation," he said.
In this context, he also referred to the 'forced exit' of one-time party theoretician Dheeran, a Vanniar, as he had become a 'parallel power-centre'.
At the same time, he also questioned the wisdom of giving Murthy a ministerial berth at the Centre, given his poor educational background, and lack of knowledge in English or Hindi.
"Dalit Ezhilmalai, against this, had mastered both the languages, and was knowledgeable as an administrator. This won him friends in Delhi, which was not to the liking of the leadership," he said.
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