Chennai Corner

Game Changer
The Spectrum scandal has been the game changer in Tamil Nadu and that’s why patriarch Karunanidhi is so angry these days. He had numbed all sections of the population with his freebies, then son Azhagiri showed him the way to win elections with his Thirumangalam formula, he had even managed to put a lid on the Spectrum scam for two years despite the Maran’s own channel Sun TV running an expose two years prior to the family reunion. In short he was sitting pretty with son and deputy CM, M K Stalin, boasting that he was set to return as the CM for the sixth time.

But the CAG report set the ball rolling for the unravelling of the DMK from its perch and amma was back to her feisty ways. After several months of somnolence she had begun to rouse herself for the fight as was evidenced by her shoot and scoot performance in Madurai on October 18 when she targeted Azhagiri on his turf – and even got applause – and Karunanidhi. The CAG report has her on a roll and she is unstoppable.

The Congress too was frustrated by the DMK holding it to ransom – part of that consequence is the Supreme Court questioning what Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was doing for the last two years instead of initiating action against A Raja. It then had to contend with restive leaders here wanting a share of the power but rendered impotent because Karunanidhi talked tough with Sonia Gandhi and she signalled to them to back off. The game has changed for the Congress too. If the DMK-Congress alliance continues, it certainly won’t have the DMK calling the shots. Politicians are the first to tell you that “there are no permanent enemies or friends in politics” and that statement will come to the party’s aid if it decides to risk AIADMK chief Jayalalitha’s overtures.

T K S Elangova, DMK MP and spokesman says, “Jayalalitha’s offer ( the assurance that she will deliver 18 MPS including her nine, and those from the Janata Dal (Secular) and Rashtriya Janata Dal of Ajit Singh) was a political blunder because now she has made her communist friends suspicious of her intentions.” But, for one thing, amma has never been faint hearted and for another, let’s face it, the left aligned with her only because they had to leave the DMK camp in the context of the nuclear deal backed by the Congress and consequently by the DMK.

Will the Doors Remain Shut?
Before he was forced to ask Raja to put in his papers, Karunanidhi was at his wittiest best. Particularly when Jayalalitha offered to support the Congress so that the UPA government would not fall but the Congress ignored her overtures.

“They (Congress) have closed the doors on your invitation,” K Anbazhagan, finance minister, said trying to rile AIADMK MLA O Panneerselvam who brought up the Spectrum scam in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly last week. Speaker R Avudaiappan, caused more merriment when he told the watch and ward guys in the House to “Keep the doors of the House closed.”

“The doors will open soon,” Panneerselvam retorted.

Having the last word in this banter, Karunanidhi said, “Only we know if the doors will open or not.”

But Karunanidhi’s amusement at the snub to Jayalalitha from the Congress was short-lived. Because the new buzz word for the Congress-DMK alliance is that it is on “as of now”. A far cry from the “Congress-DMK alliance will be intact” line taken by Ghulam Nabi Azad, Congress general secretary in charge of Tamil Nadu barely two months ago.

Raja and Rani
The irrepressible Congress leader E V K S Elangovan caused titters when, in a clear reference to Rajya Sabha MP M Kanimozhi, said the post of Telecom Minister, vacated by A Raja, should not be given to any “Rani”. But with the Congress swiftly taking back the portfolio and allocating it to Kapil Sibal (it’s very unlikely that the DMK will bounce back to its old position and make demands on the Congress), no Rani, Raja or Runk from the DMK is going to be at the helm for now anyway.

A measure of Congressmen’s frustration with the DMK can be seen from the advertisements published by the party leader in newspapers welcoming Kapil Sibal. Here’s one from Congress leaders from Coimbatore: Thank you for shaking up the education system and welcome to save our telecom system. Even Youth Congress president, Yuvaraja, has been emboldened to say that the 2G Spectrum scam “is the largest corruption case in the history of Independent India”. When asked about his frank but public appraisal, he said, “We have Rahulji’s mandate to speak what is good for the country.”

But what must have been heart-warming for Raja is the poster that met him on his return on Tuesday from Delhi after resigning. “Manthri padavi ponaalum, neenga thaan engalukku raja, (though you have lost your ministership, you are still our king).” He has not even been deserted by the leadership. He showed up Wednesday night in Madurai, accompanying Karunanidhi, for the latter’s grandson’s wedding. Yes, after the mother of all weddings that Jayalalitha threw for her foster son many years ago – and acquired the unforgettable image of being corrupt – there is another wedding in the first family. Azhagiri’s son Durai Dayanidhi married Anusha, a lawyer’s daughter, on November 18 and his father, uncle and grandfather, not to mention the DMK cadre put their gloom at the Spectrum scandal fall-out behind them to celebrate the wedding in the first family.

Rahul calls off his visit
But Rahulji got a great alibi in the Spectrum scam to call off his visit here on Friday. Actually he wanted to avoid the embarrassment of being here so soon after youth Congress cadre owing allegiance to G K Vasan clashed violently with those backing union home minister P Chidambaram. Rahul was supposed to here on November 19 (his grandmother Indira Gandhi’s birthday) for the culmination of the YC rally that started in Kanyakumari on Gandhi Jayanti day.

The youth Congress leaders gave this spin – “The time is not ideal for Rahulji to visit and speak in TN since the minister involved in the 2G scam comes from the state.” Really? The fact that Karunanidhi was celebrating his 86th birthday did not stop Rahul from coming to Chennai a day before (June 2 this year) and go back to Delhi without according the octogenarian the courtesy of wishing him.