Ramadoss cracks whip on rebels after Vanniyar block crumbles

Chennai, NOV 5: The Pattali Makkal Katchi PMK founder, S Ramadoss, displayed a whip at a party meeting recently to warn partymen agains...

Chennai, NOV 5: The Pattali Makkal Katchi PMK founder, S Ramadoss, displayed a whip at a party meeting recently to warn partymen against dissidence. Is it something that should be dismissed as an intra-party affair or seen as an anachronism in a land that is proud of its democratic traditions?

Political observers see the issue as a reflection of the frustration in PMK circles over its setback in the 1999 Lok Sabha elections. Things look fine outwardly the party has five Lok Sabha members and two members in the Union Ministry. However, it is obvious that the PMK founder is upset over the loss of four of the nine seats provided in an extravagantly generous gesture by the DMK to the PMK-led Vanniyar block. Initial reports suggested that the DMK had been too magnanimous. The results confirmed them.

The PMK won the Vellore, Vandavasi, Dharmapuri, Chengalpattu and Chidambaram constituencies, but lost three others Rasipuram, Myladuthurai and Pondicherry. Its ally in the Vanniyar block, the TRC, was defeatedby the AIADMK in Salem. In effect, the PMK8217;s much-touted Vanniyar block fetched a victory percentage of only 55.55 per cent of the seats allotted.

In comparison, the parties which had earlier insisted on parity but had to settle for less the BJP and the MDMK performed better. The BJP won four of the six seats it contested, with a victory percentage of 66.66. The MDMK did even better, notching a victory percentage of 80 per cent, bagging four of the five lok Sabha seats it fought. Deviating from the principle of parity among the PMK, MDMK and the BJP, Ramadoss demanded a higher number of seats for the party in keeping with its status and got it. The PMK was provided a total number of nine seats in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry and was expected to sort out the allotment with the Tamizhaga Rajiv Congress.

However, TRC leader Vazhapadi K. Ramamurthy came close to breaking the alliance with the NDA when he confronted Ramadoss and stuck to his demand for two seats to the TRC, the Salem and Rasipuram reserveconstituency.

It declared that Karunanidhi wanted two seats to be given to the TRC but the PMK denied this version. Finally, Ramadoss announced that only one seat would be given to the TRC and went ahead with his party8217;s candidature in Rasipuram. If the TRC did not relent, he would field a candidate against TRC candidate Vazhapadi in Salem, he had declared. Ramamurthy buckled down and still lost the Salem seat.