Date:12/06/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/06/12/stories/2004061207310400.htm

Tamil Nadu

A time for rewarding functionaries

By V. Jayanth

CHENNAI, JUNE 11. In the biennial election to the Rajya Sabha, six members are to be elected from Tamil Nadu. The process of nominations has begun, but parties have to go through the procedure of choosing their candidates before they can file the nominations.

Of the six members who retired recently on completion of their tenure in the Upper House, five belonged to the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), with a lone member from the ruling All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). But given the present composition of the Assembly, the ruling party can bag four seats, with the help of its ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The opposition can comfortably win two seats, given that all of them came under the banner of the Democratic Progressive Alliance (DPA) in the recently held parliamentary elections.

Of these two seats, the main opposition party, the DMK, is not expected to contest. Under the seat-sharing arrangement reached for the Lok Sabha election, the DMK, as the DPA leader, agreed to release both of them to its allies — Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) and Congress. So these two parties are expected to pick their nominees.

For the PMK, the choice has already been made, indirectly. Its nominee in the Union Cabinet, the Health Minister, R. Anbumani, is not a member of Parliament and has to get elected within six months. Party sources say a formal announcement is expected soon in favour of Dr. Anbumani. It is only a "formality".

As for the Congress, the choice has to be made in New Delhi and the number of aspirants are growing with every passing day. All those who failed to secure the ticket for the Lok Sabha election consider themselves to be in the running. But senior Congress functionaries indicate that the tussle has narrowed down to the recently-appointed national secretary, Sudarshan Nachiyappan, and the former Rajya Sabha member, Jayanthi Natarajan. The "disciplined way" in which Mr. Nachiyappan gave up his Sivaganga seat to the new Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, is expected to provide him an edge, say insiders.

The ruling AIADMK is expected to announce its candidates very soon. The last date for filing nominations is June 17. A senior party functionary, when contacted said, "Our leader will make the announcement at an appropriate time. Any speculation now will only hurt the chances of aspirants, if there are any. Our leader knows who will represent the party's interests best in Parliament." The party's nominee, who has retired from the House, is Dr. Maithreyan, who joined the AIADMK ahead of the 2001 elections, leaving the BJP.