| Published on 27-09-2006 In National |
| Viewed 1375 times |
| The United State of Dravidian Nadu (If the DMK and AIADMK merged) |
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Written by
M. Anand |
The AIADMK legislator from Madurai West constituency, S.V. Shanmugam, was recently stripped of his party post for praising Local Administration Minister and DMK's heir apparent M.K. Stalin. ; The MLA, who shared a dais with the Minister, got carried away by Stalin's gesture of clearing a long-pending project that would save parts of Madurai from flooding.
During his speech at the public function, Shanmugam also urged Stalin to preside over the unification of Dravidian forces in Tamil Nadu ; namely the DMK and the AIADMK, so other Dravidian 'pretenders' like actor Vijayakanth's party could be sidelined.
What would happen if Shanmugam's request becomes a reality? Just imagine Tamil Nadu without the acerbic rivalry between the two DMKs. No more war of words between the two main protagonists ; Kalaignar (littérateur as the DMK leader Karunanidhi is known) and Puratchi Thaalaivi (revolutionary leader as Jayalalithaa is referred to by her minions). These two leaders have degraded political rivalry into personal enmity so much so that members from their parties do not even visit each other for social events like marriages and are even scared of exchanging normal greetings for fear of upsetting the high command.
Under such circumstances, the possibility of DMK and AIADMK merging or Karunanidhi and Jayalalitha shaking hands on the same dais is as remote as George Bush having dinner with Osama Bin Laden. Since such a development is wholly and definitely unlikely let us let our imagination run riot and visualize a situation if the two Dravidian majors decide to call truce and join hands.
;It's an ominous prospect that would make you shudder especially if you happen to be a journalist and more so the editor of a Tamil daily or magazine. Newspapers in the state would struggle to fill their columns as those (minimum) thousand word statements from the Puratchi Thalaivi tearing Karunanidhi and his government to pieces would cease to be churned out by overworked fax machines. Just envisage how newspapers would look shorn of Jayalalithaa's recent challenge to Karunanidhi asking him to face a committee of officials, judges and journalists (nominated by her of course) to look into his assets and those of his family members.
Without Jayalalithaa's below-the-belt treatise on Karunanidhi's 'manaivi' and 'thunaivi' (wife Dayalu and companion Rajathiammal) and her pot shots of the DMK chief gracing a friend's hair dressing salon. Tamil readers would find themselves deprived of literature of the lowest order.
In the absence of Amma's arrows, the return shots from Kalaignar's side will cease as well leaving another huge gap in newspaper columns. Those daily exposes on the files that Jayalalithaa failed to clear during her regime, self-explanatory questions and answers in the DMK organ Murasoli deriding Jaya for dubbing his regime as 'minority government' and the scurrilous offerings by the 'Tsunami Poet' would come to a sudden halt. And of course, his government would have got a solid majority post merger.
This predicament of Tamil dailies would only be amplified in the case of news on Sun TV and Jaya TV, especially the latter. The saturation coverage of Chikangunya and its fatal aftermath, attributing the spread of the disease to poor quality eggs supplied in the noon meal scheme, death of cattle after they were fed with the DMK regime's Rs.2 per kilo ration rice and instances of land grabbing and sand quarrying with the blessings of DMK bigwigs would cease to appear on Jaya TV thus destroying the Amma channel's USP.
The state's film industry would be spared of a huge dilemma. Having felicitated Jayalalithaa during her reign for ending the menace of video piracy and sandalwood smuggler Veerappan, they're now busy planning a similar mega event to please Karunanidhi for his concessions to the film industry.
In future they would need to organize only one such function where both the leaders could be felicitated on the same dais.
The state Assembly too would turn into such a dull and boring place. DMK Ministers while replying to debates would not drag extraneous issues like the marriage of Jaya's adopted son leading to instant fracas. AIADMK legislators would find no excuse to attack the Speaker or protest his rulings and stage protest walkouts.
That brings us to the question – what would be Jayalalithaa's role in the Assembly if the DMK and AIADMK really merged? The CM's chair is out of question since that is reserved for Stalin. At the same time Amma would not like to stand up every time Karunanidhi entered the house (as MLAs of the DMK alliance do now) so she would occupy the Speaker's chair, which means only Karunanidhi and other MLAs will have to stand up when she entered the house. Also the present Speaker Avudaiyappan is so colorless compared to his predecessors like 'sky-high' Pandian, half-standing Sedapatti Muthiah and the second-fiddling Kalimuthu. So Amma as the presiding deity , sorry officer, would make a substantial difference to the proceedings of the house.
Though their two parties might be united, the egos of these two leaders would continue to struggle to comprehend and adjust to the new situation. This could lead to some piquant scenes in the Assembly. DMK Ministers and MLAs would find their high flowing praise of Kalaignar and his golden rule cut short by the new Speaker. In case they managed to squeeze in more idolatry references than required the Speaker might even expunge them.
On the other hand, AIADMK members would find themselves unfettered by the constraints of time or content while packing their speeches with sycophantic eulogies of Puratchi Thalaivi, who after all would be soaking in all the praise from the Speaker's chair. Since this arrangement could only lead to friction and threaten the new found unity a compromise formula could be worked out. When DMK legislators speak they should glorify only Jayalalithaa and AIADMK MLAs would be asked to speak highly of Karunanidhi. That would be a tough task for MLAs from both sides as they would be unable to kick off an old habit. So they would safely stick to the subject than resort to sycophancy and Assembly debates could suddenly become more meaningful.
The people of Tamil Nadu too might take a while to adjust to a scenario minus the traditional DMK-AIADMK rivalry. But look at the positive spin off – no more midnight arrests and consequent protest demos and long drawn court cases, continuation of schemes and projects of the earlier regime and no political undercutting on issues like Cauvery river dispute or Tsunami relief.
A united DMK and AIADMK would mean that the Congress might have to don its traditional role as the opposition represented by nationalist forces and rediscover the forgotten slogan of reviving Kamaraj rule. Since Vijayakanth has touted himself as an alternative to the two DMKs, he would hope fill the opposition vacuum. Ramadoss of the PMK would have no trouble remaining an ally of the United DMK since he had been with both the sides previously.
That would only leave Vaiko and his MDMK. Karunanidhi is unlikely to forgive him for his last betrayal and Jayalalithaa might view his ambition as a liability in the new united entity. If Vaiko were smart he would join hands with Vijayakanth. But since he has never been a street smart player and often let his heart rule the head, he would continue to remain the unofficial ambassador of the yet to be formed Eelam. May be forever. |
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