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India Today, October 4, 1999
Oct 4, 1999

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Elections 99

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Orphaned Staff
Delhi: It's not just the leaders of the once formidable Janata Dal who are looking for better options. The staff and hangers-on who served them have fallen on bad times too. The splits in the JD has meant that the staff at its Jantar Mantar office have no regular salary. Until Parliament was dissolved JD MPs would pool in money to pay their wages. But after the H.D. Deve Gowda and J.H. Patel factions parted ways, even that has stopped. Last heard, JD (United) leader Ram Vilas Paswan had "contributed" Rs 2 lakh to bail them out. Predictably, their future now hinges on the outcome of the polls.

For Ally's Sake
Chennai: Going by Dravidian traditions, this milestone called for a carnival. But last week, the DMK marked a quiet 51st anniversary. Except for the gaffe by Murasoli Maran, party think tank and former Union minister. Recalling the Dravidian movement's objectives -- to fight the Congress and Hinduism -- Maran thundered, "Now as the DMK turns 51, we have destroyed the Congress." While DMK chief M. Karunanidhi squirmed in his seat, the nephew stopped short of committing a blunder that might have offended his new-found ally, the BJP. He then abruptly launched an attack on the leftists and their alliance with the AIADMK. Much to the relief of his uncle.

Election Fever
Bangalore: Karnataka Chief Minister J.H. Patel invariably lands up in a hospital whenever he is faced with a political crisis. On numerous occasions in the past Patel has conducted official business while recuperating at the city's Jindal Institute of Naturopathy and Yogic Sciences. Last week, after media and intelligence reports hinted that his government was on a downslide despite the tie-up with the BJP, Patel got admitted into a private hospital near the secretariat, reportedly for jaundice. But as a party leader put it: "This time he developed fever because he fears losing his own Channagari assembly seat in Shimoga." And that too to a BJP-supported candidate.

Impending Trouble
Chandigarh: It took merely an exit poll telecast by Doordarshan to puncture Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal's tall rhetoric of a "clean sweep" by the Akali Dal-BJP combine in Punjab. Though stung by the predictions, the Akali supremo vented his ire against DD by simply rubbishing the exit poll. But the alacrity with which Badal went about meeting grassroots party workers thereafter betrayed his uneasiness about the impending trouble. Sensing the disenchantment in the party rank and file, he was quick to announce plans for an expanded cabinet and special cards to party workers to enable them easy access to the administration. The "exit" signal has clearly got Badal worked up even before the actual results are in.

CONFESSIONAL
Lakshmi Parvati, NTR-TDP chief, faces a total eclipse in the Andhra Pradesh assembly polls. Though she has conceded defeat, she is determined to stay on as a lonely crusader.

Q. How was the recent campaign different from the one when you travelled with NTR atop the Chaitanya Ratham through Andhra Pradesh?

A. In many ways. Lukewarm reception and missing cadre at many places. There is no comparison with 1994 when people clamoured for a change from Congress rule. That is how the TDP with its allies got 258 of the 294 seats.

Q. Does this reveal you are unable to achieve what you want?

A. Yes. I have failed. Conditions are not favourable though people still long for NTR's poverty-alleviation programmes. I could not cash in on this situation. Neither do I have the cash nor the cadre.

Q. Is it the end of the road for you in politics?

A. No. I am not lusting for power. It is a long road and I will continue till I achieve my primary goal of removing back-stabber Chandrababu Naidu from office and infusing life into the real TDP which is the NTR-TDP.

Q. Have you become a loner?

A. Yes. I run a party with lightweights. Imagine my plight when journalists don't turn up for a press conference in the constituency even after inviting them four times. But all this does not worry me. In politics, like in life, there are both ups and downs.

Q. At what stage is the book on NTR which you were working on at the time of your marriage?

A. There have been setbacks because of other priorities but I will complete it before the year end.

-Amarnath K. Menon

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