FEEDING A FRENZY: Jayalalithaa at the launch of her temple meal scheme

Coming out of Anna Arivalayam, the DMK headquarters in Chennai, one afternoon last month, party chief M. Karunanidhi was unusually irascible. “You make me speak so much in front of the camera but use only a five-second byte,” he told the trailing bunch of journalists. The reason for his uncharacteristic outburst became clear last week. “The BJP state leaders have been openly supporting the AIADMK,” he said. “They have been misinterpreting and criticising the DMK on trivial issues. For all practical purposes the NDA does not exist in Tamil Nadu.” It was the first official confirmation of the much speculated rift between the DMK and BJP.

Disenchantment between the two parties had begun to surface as early as the run-up to the assembly elections in May last year. What jolted the DMK was BJP’s open endorsement of Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa’s Annandanam temple meal scheme launched at 63 temples across the state on March 23. BJP state President S.P. Kirubanidhi and General Secretary L. Ganesan, along with other party leaders, stood in attendance as Jayalalithaa served lunch to the visitors at the Kapaleeswarar temple. Official invitations had been specially sent out to the BJP and VHP leaders.

“For all practical purposes, the NDA does not exist in Tamil Nadu.” M. Karunanidhi, DMK President

Jayalalithaa’s decision to launch the scheme “shows that she closely identifies with the Hindutva ideology”, justifies Kirubanidhi. The BJP is not a natural ally of the DMK whose ideology is based on atheism. Jayalalithaa, on the other hand, is known to flaunt her penchant for religious ceremonies, organising yagnas in public view.

Her condemnation of the February 27 Godhra killings has further endeared her to the party. “A crime is a crime whether it is committed against a minority or a majority community. Why are those who vociferously deplore the attacks on minorities silent on the Godhra killings?” she had demanded much to the delight of the Hindutva brigade. Many state BJP leaders admit that the AIADMK would be ideologically better suited as an ally.

Which is perhaps why the BJP is in no mood to appease an angry Karunanidhi. That the former chief minister is in a precarious position is evident from his announcement that the DMK ministers would continue in the BJP-led Union Government and that the alliance would hold at the national level. This, alleges Ganesan, is indulging in double standards. “You cannot say you want the head but not the limbs,” he says.

The DMK, however, sees no contradiction in opposing the BJP in the state while continuing in the Union Government. Karunanidhi has been under pressure from the party’s ministers in the NDA Government, Murasoli Maran and T.R. Baalu, to continue with the arrangement. Initially, Maran, the commerce minister, reportedly coerced his uncle into backing the alliance till his announcement of the exim policy on March 31. Subsequently, he convinced Karunanidhi that a foothold at the Centre would save them from Jayalalithaa’s witch hunting.

It is, however, anybody’s guess how long these compulsions see the two bitter Dravidian rivals actively backing the ruling coalition at the Centre.