Chennai Corner

Karunanidhi v/s Jaya

Karunanidhi ko gussa kyon aata hai? Apart from the fact that both he and Jayalalithawant to have the last word in their verbal tangle -- which for any observer is exhausting not to mention, clichéd-- with elections approaching, their one-upmanship has acquired an edge. But what seems to have riled the octogenarian is the AIADMK chief’s attempt to take away hisraison d'être as the protector of Tamils, by her move this week to go on a day-long fast for the Sri Lankan Tamils.

The Tamils in the island, by the way, have suffered endlessly with neitherKarunanidhi and the CPI nor the militant MDMK -- nor even VCK -- being able to do anything for them, despite the collective noise they have made since last October.

Karunanidhi has rightly pointed out that Jayalalitha’s belated sympathy for the Sri Lankan Tamil cause was fraudulent because she did not show up for the all party meetings he called to discuss theissues. Nor was not party to four resolutions calling for a ceasefire in the emeraldisle. She of course did not join in the human chain protest or any otherexpression of solidarity. Instead, all his actions, including the en masse resignation threat by MPs, waslabelled "a drama" by her while she took the familiar stand that she gave no quarter to the LTTE.

Her political callisthenics, considering that she had Vaiko’s MDMK as an ally-- Vaiko even courted arrest by saying he would lead from the front against the centre for arming the Sri Lankan defence forces-- left many speechless.

So, why is she observing a fast when the Tigers are fighting a last ditch battle? 

Well, her reason for doing it is political compulsion and she has displayed that quite brazenly. She tried to get the Congress to break ranks with the DMK recently and was rebuffed so badly that now she claims thather statement, tinged with nostalgia about Indira and Rajiv Gandhi, was just that and not an invitation. Her fast is a come hither signal to the PMK which has been in the forefront of trying to protect Sri Lankan Tamils. Since her ego will not let her seek out Vijayakant of the DMDK, she is trying to get the PMK onto her side.

PMK, the most eligible groom

The PMK, since its ouster from the DPA coalition in June, has gotten shriller in its criticism ofKarunanidhi. Political compulsions prevailed and Karunanidhi ate humble pie to make nice with PMK founder Dr Ramadoss, who went as far as to "fail" Karunanidhi in the report card he handed out when the DMK government completed two years in office in May. But despite signs of the reconciliation, there was no actual rapprochement because Ramadoss saw that Karunanidhi was desperate-- the CPI and CPM who had two MPs each had deserted his coalition -- and dependent on the Congress and decided he would drive a hard bargain.

Last Lok Sabha election, he got five seats as part of the tie-up, now he wants more and apparently also wants his son, Dr Anbumani Ramadoss, to keep his job as the union minister of health if the UPA is back in the saddle. Anbumani Ramadoss has been doing his own bit of arm-twisting-- he claimed that since the DMK came to power, the revenue from liquor has gone up from Rs 4000 crores to Rs 12000 crores. Karunanidhi has never been amused with the constant sniping from the moralistic father-son duo demanding prohibition.

Ramadoss is trying to give the impression that he has other options -- read Jayalalitha. But who is he kidding? His king-sized ego and Amma’s queen-sized one can never be compatible. But the dance goes on. Meanwhile, the DMK patriarch has opened talks with the Congress which is eyeing the eight seats that used to be held by the MDMK(4) and Left(4) in addition to its 10 sitting MPs. Let the games begin.

Vaiko’s dwindling flock

Speaking of the MDMK, Vaiko must be feeling just like the BJP felt when Naveen Patnaik of the BJD pulled the rug from undertheir feet. Already, two of his MPs -- Ganesan and Gingee Ramachandran -- had abandoned him for Karunanidhi. Now, one of the founders of the MDMK, Kannappan, has abandoned him too. Kannappan is pretending he is still mulling his next move. But we know that he was close to the DMK chief and we also know he visited Karunanidhi in hospital while he was recovering from spine surgery. So, go figure.

The Devil wears Prada

It must be said that Karunanidhi is not in clover. The trial balloon floated,about his son M K Azhagiri contesting in the Lok Sabha election, vanished mysteriously. It seems unlikely that Azhagiri will go to Delhi. But this election will see Azhagiri and his brother Stalin,who is also the minister for local administration, campaigning while Karunanidhi, just out of spine surgery, will restrict himself to addressing a few meetings. What is galling for the CM is that all the freebies he was hoping to cash in on, have been taken off the table by the Election Commission. So no free colour TV (he had promised one crore but so far 56.26 lakh TV sets at a cost of Rs 1,375 crores have been distributed), house pattas, gas stoves with LPG connections (11 lakh families were given at a cost of Rs 220crore).

The Tirumangalam by-election was won with many inducements, mostly from the DMK even though the AIADMK too tried to bribe voters. But the DMK has to contend with Chief Electoral Office Naresh Gupta. Gupta is not one of the CM’s pets as evidenced by the latter’s gripe: "Naresh Gupta has not called on me even once since I became CM in 2006." Does that mean, Jaya can celebrate? Apparently not, because Gupta is one of those rare breed of officers who does his job and devil take the rest.

God helps those who help themselves

This Wednesday, lawyers owing allegiance to the ruling party came back to work after being so ordered by the DMK, but the rest did not. It was clear even the new Chief Justice Hemant Laxman Gokhale was losing his patience with the advocates who have not worked this year barring ten days. So what do litigants do when the boycott by lawyers has been as protracted as this one has been? They represent themselves and at least get an interim judgement. 

A farmer from Tirupur got a stay on the auction of his farm land for two weeks after he told his story that the Debts Recovery Tribunal had permitted a public sector bank to take over and auction his land. While he could not cite legal provisions in support of his case, Judges Gokhale and F M Ibrahim Kalifulla supplied the legal input from books and ordered a stay. Similarly, an armyman too got his case heard and so did an executive, whose story that his wife had moved out takingtheir kid with her, moved the judges enough to order a non bail-able warrant against her.

At the magisterial courts, bail applications were allowed to be moved by relatives of undertrials and remand prisoners and as a result 20 prisoners per day have been released. This has caused much relief in prisons which were overcrowded ever since the boycott because even those in for petty offences ended up having to stay put with no lawyer available to argue their case.