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Tamil Nadu
By R. K. Radhakrishnan
``There is no question of a merger. But there are a lot of similarities in the way the MDMK and the DMK view many issues both at the national and at State levels,'' a senior party leader said today. This is a departure from the earlier policy adopted by the MDMK - of being close to the BJP while maintaining a distance from the DMK and the AIADMK, and criticising both for the ills plaguing the State. The MDMK leaders say the new-found closeness with the DMK has also percolated to the rank and file; especially after the DMK president, M. Karunanidhi, called on Mr. Vaiko in the Vellore prison. The DMK chief publicly expressing his anguish at Mr. Vaiko being held in prison for so long has also helped to remove suspicions in the minds of the cadre of both parties. ``Mr. Karunanidhi repeatedly condemning the incarceration of Mr. Vaiko under the POTA goes to show the consideration a leader has for a former lieutenant''.
Ayodhya issue
The drifting of the MDMK away from the BJP is evident from the dim view it now took on the Ayodhya tangle. (In its application to the Supreme Court, the Centre said the controversy over 67.703 acres of ``undisputed land'' needed to be resolved and that ``the continuing uncertainty is not in the public interest.'') This marks a significant shift in the MDMK, which refused to condemn the Gujarat terror campaign attributed to the Sangh Parivar just a year ago. The party then sought to link the Godhra violence to the mayhem that followed, in line with the BJP reasoning. Senior party leaders, who interact with Mr. Vaiko regularly, have criticised the ``transgression'' of the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) agenda on the Ayodhya case as ``unwarranted.'' They are of the opinion that the issue should not be raked up now— a view shared by the DMK as well. ``The considered view of the MDMK is that the undisputed land should not be handed over to the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas or any other organisation,'' a senior leader said. The MDMK did not waver on the issue the leader pointed out and said even Mr. Vaiko had spoken on the issue in Parliament in the presence of the Prime Minister, A. B. Vajpayee, and the Deputy Prime Minister, L. K. Advani. The leader claims that the MDMK always took taken a consistent stand on issues of importance. It was for this reason that Mr. Vaiko had taken up the cause of the Sri Lankan Tamils, at the risk of being labelled as a supporter of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. That was why he was arrested under the POTA. For now, the MDMK has decided to concentrate on its strengths - cooperating with the DMK and other secular parties in a bid to cement the friendship built in the past few months, and banking on its Union Ministers to raise issues of importance in New Delhi. The loss to the party because of Mr. Vaiko's prolonged incarceration cannot be denied; but by taking up and campaigning for people's issues— at all levels— , the party believes that it will not lose ground even as the case for Mr.Vaiko's release is fought in courts.
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