Tuesday, Jun 17, 2003
Tuesday, Jun 17, 2003 |
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Tamil Nadu
By R. K. Radhakrishnan
The president, M. Karunanidhi, today evaded a reply to the issues raised by the meeting, but on Sunday made it clear that the DMK and he himself were passing through testing times. He had to face the trial at a time when he lost Kiruttinan. ``His killing was a big loss to the party,'' he said and added the ruling party was trying its best to use the murder to reap political gains. But these efforts would come to nought, Mr. Karunanidhi said. Kiruttinan, who was murdered near his Madurai residence on May 20, was identified with the younger son of Mr. Karunanidhi, M.K. Stalin. Because of the long-standing rivalry between two party factions, one led by Mr.Karunanidhi's elder son, M.K.Azhagiri, and the other by Mr. Stalin, many partymen themselves believed that intra-party rivalry was responsible for the murder. The DMK has already lost precious time, in beginning to repair the damage caused by the killing of Kiruttinan. His relatives meeting the Chief Minister is the culmination of a relatively long season of discontent, which peaked immediately after the murder. Looking at it from the view of the ruling party, the Azhagiri arrest — notwithstanding the legal aspects — ended up making a lot of political sense, as it kept the DMK leadership completely occupied. With its new set of priorities, the leadership failed to make the right noises about the murder and subsequent events. All along, the leadership was focussed on trying to convince an unbelieving cadre that Mr.Azhagiri was not in the wrong. In the view of some leaders, the top leadership failed to gauge how deeply the cadre and local leaders were affected by the murder. Consequently, while the leadership thought that the simmering discontent was a media creation and acted in accordance with this theory, the local leadership was getting even more alienated from the party. Even the second-rung leadership — instead of offering resistance to the media theory — joined in and was actively engaged in blaming the media for all that was wrong with the party. It even went to the extent of claiming that there was no Azhagiri or Stalin faction. The events also point to the fact that in southern districts, the listening posts of the party have been either completely ineffective or have been playing the tunes the leadership wanted to hear. The mass resignations in Sivaganga were a result of lack of effectiveness of the intermediate leadership. The meeting Kiruttinan's relatives' had with the Chief Minister changes more than a few things in the party. For once it exhibited to the leadership the real problems that afflict the party. The DMK finally realises that there are serious problems. But this realisation has come at a very heavy price.
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