By M Rama Rao, India Editor, Asian Tribune
New Delhi, 18 April (Asiantribune.com): With pollsters
Jayalalithaa Jayaram predicting a hung parliament, Jayalalithaa Jayaram, the AIADMK General Secretary is getting ready to position herself as the King maker in Delhi. The five-phase election to constitute the new Indian parliament would be over on May 16.
She has asked the voters to send AIADMK front to Parliament in a big way to play ‘due’ role in government formation.
A good politician never rules out anything, she told a TV channel, Times Now and indicated that she would be open to all options in the post-poll scene. She is certain that the Congress and BJP led fronts would fall short of the magic figure to form the new government. In such a scenario regional parties will come into play she said and indicated that she would be open to negotiations with whoever emerges as the front runner.
As of now, AIADMK has cozied up to the Left parties and the PMK, who were hitherto allies of the DMK. Vaiko’s M DMK believes it had a raw deal at Jaya hands on seat sharing but is going along with Amma.
The Jaya front stands to gain Muslim votes too. That is because Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (MMK), the newly floated political outfit of Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhakam and a member of 'Social Democratic Front,’ has decided to support the Left parties, where the party or front is not contesting for the May 13 Lok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu.
The MMK has not approached AIADMK for alliance, party leader E Umar said.
MMK is in the fray for four seats while Puthiya Tamizhakam is contesting for three seats. The Indian National League, another constituent of Social Democratic Front is yet to finalize its seats.
Umar said they distanced from DMK as ‘only one seat was earmarked for us’. MMK, he said, considered it as very less considering the over 10 per cent of Muslim population.
How the wind will blow on the polling day is still unclear. When the poll schedule was announced last month, the odds were very much against Muthavel Karunanidhi’s DMK-led alliance.
DMK Still Hopes
PMK’s decision to transmigrate to Jaya Amma camp with its Vanniyar vote bank tilted the scales in favour of AIADMK. So did the coming together of Left and the AIADMK.
The alliances Left parties forge are generally seen as indictors of the pulse of the voters. In the last election they were amongst the first to be with the DMK in Tamilnadu and the Congress in the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh. Now they are in the ‘rival’s camp so to say – In Andhra Pradesh with the TDP and in TN with the AIADMK under the aegis of Third Front.
Latest assessment is that the chances of DMK and AIADMK are fifty –fifty. Some AIADMK are not as strong as they are made out to be at the outset. It may prove advantageous to their rivals.
The Congress is not a happy house either in Tamilnadu with the party split into multiple groups amidst charges that tickets were sold. The Vasan group is sulking and it appears to be losing its grip.
For the DMK chief, the election is important as he is heading a minority government supported by the Congress from outside. A loss in the May 13 vote could mean an end to his rule as Jaya Amma would insist on dismissal of TN government as her price for supporting the new dispensation in Delhi. Much would depend on how effectively Karunanidhi neutralises his anti-incumbency factor and galvanises his two sons and two activist daughters to lead the campaign from the front.
Activist role for AIADMK is not new on the Delhi scene. The first time the party played a key role in government formation was in the 70s when Jaya Amma’s mentor M G Ramachandran became an ally of the Congress backed Prime Minister Charan Singh. The government was short lived.
In the nineties AIADMK became an ally of the BJP and joined Vajpayee’s second government in the 90s, the party remained unscathed it played a key role in government. It was a short-lived association as the AIADMK soon became friends with the Congress and pulled out. AIADMK missed out the National Front and United Front governments to its bitter rival DMK. Murasoli Maran was the TN face of these governments, which too like all earlier coalitions, did not last their term.
Now Jayalalithaa hopes to rewrite the history books.
Jaya Diatribe
Jayalalithaa Thursday launched her election campaign with a blistering attack on the Congress-led UPA at the Centre and the ruling DMK in Chennai and dubbed them as failures on various fronts including terrorism, price-rise and Lanka Tamil issue.
The May 13 elections are a "golden opportunity" to vote the two parties out of power, she said.
She termed as "drama" the moves of Karunanidhi on the Sri Lankan Tamils issue, including resignation of DMK MPs and meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. She accused DMK chief of making contradictory statements on LTTE and Prabhakaran.
AIDMK Manifesto
AIADMK manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections promises that it would press for ‘a separate Eelam’ if devolution of powers in Tamil-dominated provinces of Sri Lanka failed to give equal status to Tamils.
‘Tamils should be accorded equal status with the Sinhala majority with devolution of administrative power in the Tamil-dominated provinces of Sri Lanka. If these moves fail, then AIADMK will press for a separate state of Eelam to ensure that Tamils in the island live a life of dignity’, the manifesto says.
It calls for an immediate cessation of war between Sri Lankan Army and LTTE and an immediate end to ‘killings’ of civilian Tamil population.
A grant of Rs 10,000 crore would be provided for the restoration and development of the Tamil areas of Sri Lanka after the devolution was completed, it promises.
The AIADMK manifesto also promises to work for stringent anti-terrorism law with adequate safeguards to prevent misuse, setting up of commando units in every state, initiate dialogue, and a special package to address genuine demands of Naxalites if they lay down arms.
On Ram temple issue, the party will seek to solve it through negotiations involving all the parties concerned. ‘If such an initiative fails, the decision of the apex court on the matter shall be deemed final and respected’, the manifesto says.
-Asian Tribune -
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