TMC mounts pressure on Cong. to accept AIADMK's delink proposal

By Radha Venkatesan

CHENNAI, MARCH 7. Virtually pouring cold water on the third front proposal, the Tamil Maanila Congress today stepped up pressure on the Congress to join the PMK-inclusive AIADMK front in Tamil Nadu, accepting the ``alliance delink'' proposal for Pondicherry.

Hoping for a further raise in the AIADMK's offer to the TMC- Congress combine from the present 45 seats, the TMC leaders see no reason to float a third front.

At the party's election committee meeting here today, most of the TMC second-rung leaders were for grabbing the AIADMK's ``attractive offer'', even minus the Congress. But the party president, Mr. G.K. Moopanar, who is in no mood to abandon his parent party, continued efforts to evolve ``an acceptable package'' for the Congress in Pondicherry, TMC sources said. As the AIADMK's power-sharing pact with the PMK continued to be the stumbling block for the Congress to join the AIADMK alliance, the TMC leader was working on a ``rapprochement''.

Calling on the Congress to accept the AIADMK proposal for delinking the alliance and leading a separate front in the Union Territory, the TMC chief urged the AIADMK to further modify its offer on ``chief ministership''.

The AIADMK general secretary, Ms. Jayalalitha, in a bid to accommodate the TMC-Congress combine, declared yesterday that the PMK would hold the office of chief minister in Pondicherry for the first two and a half years and the Congress for the remaining period.

Since the Congress had rejected the offer, Mr. Moopanar was now urging the AIADMK to give the first turn to the Congress and also keep the PMK out of the Government during that period, the sources said. But PMK sources said the party would not compromise on its claim to chief ministership and the first turn of office.

After meeting Mr. Moopanar, the Pondicherry Congress president, Mr. V. Narayanasamy, told The Hindu that the AIADMK's proposals were being ``actively considered''. ``We are agreeable to any proposal except sharing power with the PMK.''

Given its limited options, the TMC feels the ``best solution'' is for the Congress to lead a separate front along with the TMC and the Left parties in the Union Territory, while remaining part of the AIADMK-led front in Tamil Nadu. The TMC hoped that the Congress would accept the delinking proposal and help solve the alliance impasse.

But the Congress does not appear too keen, saying it would be an ``embarrassment'' to fight the PMK-AIADMK combine in Pondicherry and align with it in Tamil Nadu. ``It will create confusion among cadres,'' sources in the Pondicherry Congress insisted.

Also, there was a possibility of the Congress-led combine falling short of a couple of seats to form a government in the Union Territory if the AIADMK kept away. ``But if delinking is the only way out, we will have to accept it,'' agreed a senior leader.

Meanwhile, a fresh hitch appears to have cropped up over sharing the seats offered by the AIADMK to the TMC-Congress combine in Tamil Nadu, with most of the TMC leaders opposed to giving more than 10 seats for the Congress. But the State Congress finds this ``unacceptable''.

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