Waiting for Moopanar

For the TMC there8217;s a life after death
For G. K. Moopanar and his Tamil Maanila Congress, this has been a period of strangely mixed experiences. The firm rejection by the state8217;s voters of the party and its front in the Lok Sabha polls has been followed by an ardent wooing of the TMC and its top leader. And, even while this may be a balm to the bruised party, Moopanar faces a difficult choice. The avalanche of attentions and advances began with J. Jayalalitha8217;s surprise call on an ailing TMC chief that seemed to signify more than mere 8220;courtesy8221;. Then came the clear appeal from the AIADMK for the TMC to join the 8220;secular front8221; against the BJP at the Centre and the DMK in the state. This has been the signal for a chorus of similar pleas from other constituents of the front. The lead has of course been taken by the Left, with both the CPI and the CPIM letting it be known that they were waiting impatiently to reforge links with a party they considered a natural ally, but even the Congress hasnot lagged far behind in the campaign. Alarm bells have been set ringing in the other political camp. The main counter-move has been to try and warn the TMC and Moopanar against what the state BJP calls a trap8217; and the DMK has continued to indicate its willingness to make up with its former ally. The AIADMK front8217;s overtures have been carried further with its invitation for the TMC to join its proposed statewide agitation on November 4 against price rise, and the state of agonising suspense continues with Moopanar promising a response after consultations with his party colleagues.

The decision the TMC is called upon to take is perhaps one that, in retrospect, it would have been wise to take well before the elections. It would appear to be one that the party only tried to avoid by opting for a third front8217;. Its adoption of a stand of equidistance from communalism8217; and corruption8217;, representing the BJP and the AIADMK respectively, may have appeared brave and principled to a minuscule minority of publicopinion. The front it forged with some Dalit organisations on this platform, however, yielded poor electoral dividends. Moopanar and other TMC leaders had conceded that the front was not a front-runner at all, but asserted that it would get around 40 lakh votes. Such a performance, they hoped, would augur well for the emergence of a non-Dravidian, TMC-led alternative in Tamil Nadu by the next assembly elections. It is only about a half of the hoped-for votes that the front has got. But the suitors of the TMC know that this still does not warrant a wishing away or belittling of its base. One explanation for the poor showing is that the vote banks of the TMC and the Pudhiya Thamizhagam were not easily transferable to each other. This may not be the biggest factor behind the front8217;s flop. That would seem to consist in the fact that the third front8217; was as unviable a political entity in the state as it has proved elsewhere. Not only because the political competition in the state has come to be one mainly betweenthe two Dravidian contenders of power. Even more because of the polarisation at the national level that the last Lok Sabha polls represented. The impossible dream of equidistance between the two major camps vying for the electorate8217;s mandate can only lead to political irrelevance.