Opinion - Editorials

A realistic move

THE DECISION AT last by the leaders of the Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) to effect a merger into the Congress is indeed a reflection of a mature reaction on their part to the inescapable ground realities in Tamil Nadu. It may be true that the announcement, in a sense, was only a formality after the discussions between the TMC chief, G. K.Vasan, and the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi's aide and AICC secretary (in-charge of Tamil Nadu affairs), Ramesh Chennithala, during the past couple of months. Mr. Vasan, it may be recalled, had also met Ms. Gandhi during this period and his own election to the Rajya Sabha, which was made possible only because his candidature was endorsed by the Congress (as also by the Left parties), was a clear signal that the two parties were coming together. But then, Mr. Vasan's insistence through this period that he would take a final decision on the merger only after elaborate consultations with his party's ranks did suggest that the actual merger could take longer. The TMC chief, after all, could not have glossed over the concerns within his ranks particularly over the manner in which those holding positions in the party organisation were going to be accommodated in the larger set-up.

The joint declaration now, after a meeting of the leaders of the TMC and the Tamil Nadu unit of the Congress (with representatives of the AICC establishment too participating in it), does convey the impression that such issues have been settled. This, however, cannot be taken as the final settlement. There are the feuds among the various "important" leaders within the TNCC establishment marked by frequent instances when one or the other of them rushes to the high command seeking a change of leadership in the State. The State unit president, E.V.K.S. Elangovan, has been the target of attack by the several past presidents of the TNCC and his efforts to steer the party out of the AIADMK fold has met with concerted resistance from them. The AICC establishment too has refused to come out clearly on this and this has encouraged a whole lot of leaders in the Tamil Nadu unit to carry on with their inner party struggle. That the TMC too is not free from this problem is a fact that Mr. Vasan as well as the AICC cannot gloss over. While it remains to be seen whether those in the TMC, particularly a number of those elected to the State Assembly (when the TMC was an ally of the AIADMK), will go as far as to defy Mr. Vasan when the merger is formalised, the fact remains that there are a number of TMC MLAs who do not appreciate the idea of joining the ranks of the Congress Legislature Party particularly as long as the Congress unit in Tamil Nadu persists with the idea of forging a third front in the State.

Be that as it may, despite the party organisation that the TMC can claim to have in the State even at this stage, the fact is that Mr. Vasan is in no position to sustain the structure in the same way as his father, G. K. Moopanar, could. Moreover, the TMC organisation was even otherwise being prepared by Moopanar for a merger. This was the context in which Mr. Vasan inherited the mantle and in this sense he was in no position to reverse the trend. Apart from these factors, the ease with which the DMK and the AIADMK were walking in and out of the BJP-led alliance in the past few years had certainly created a situation where there was very little scope for the TMC to enter into a lasting political alliance committed to plural values. All these had rendered the TMC's merger into the Congress inevitable. While the merger now seems imminent, the leaders on both sides (particularly the Congress high command) will serve the party's cause better only if they make clear the strategy in the days to come vis-a-vis the DMK and the AIADMK in the State.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Opinion

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• An act of terror against India
• A realistic move
• Gujarati exceptionalism
• The mosaic cracks
• The U.S. should act now
• Heinous act
• Better security needed
• It is shameful
• LTTE ban
• Role of police
• Gujarat imbroglio
• Presidential poll

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu