Fear of losing drives top DMK leaders away from Chennai

The desertion of the ruling DMK’s top leadership of citadel Chennai signals its alienation from partner Congress. An Intelligence Bureau officer who is a specialist in Tamil Nadu politics said the top leadership of DMK, including party chief M Karunanidhi and his son and deputy chief minister MK Stalin, opted for faraway constituencies only because of fear of losing.

“They feel rural voters have not understood the magnitude of the spectrum scam,” he said.

Since 1991, Congress has always sided with winning combinations led either by DMK or AIADMK.

In 1991, AIADMK, in alliance with Congress, swept the polls and Jayalalithaa became the chief minister. By 1996, when the next election was held, she had become thoroughly unpopular because of a series of corruption charges.

Though then Congress president PV Narasimha Rao still decided to go with her, a majority of Congressmen under the leadership of GK Moopanar launched Tamil Manila Congress (TMC), which aligned with DMK and Karunanidhi returned to power.

Before the 2001 election, TMC and AIADMK came closer and Jayalalithaa won. Subsequently, however, AIADMK joined hands with BJP, while TMC merged with Congress. In the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, Congress went back to DMK and they won. The alliance also won the 2006 assembly polls.

But in the last five years, the DMK rule has became as unpopular as the AIADMK rule in 1996. Party leader and telecommunication minister A Raja has been arrested in connection with the spectrum scam.

On the other hand, AIADMK has formed a coalition of eight parties and going by the pattern of voting over the last two decades, it should win.