Tamil Maanila Congress: Hope and scepticism

G.K. Vasan receives temple honours after announcing the launch of a new political party at a meeting in Chennai on Monday. Photo: S.R. Raghunathan

G.K. Vasan’s decision to launch a political party could not have come at a more appropriate time, though the circumstances for another regional Congress variant are not so favourable now as they were when his father G.K. Moopanar had launched the Tamil Maanila Congress in 1996.

While the ruling AIADMK has been pushed to the wall after the conviction of its general secretary Jayalalithaa in the assets case, the main Opposition DMK is unable to capitalise on the situation as uncertainty over the 2G scam case hangs like a sword of Damocles over its second-line leaders.

Mr. Vasan can now take advantage of the predicament of the main Dravidian parties and project his party as an alternative to them, seeking to achieve ‘a prosperous Tamil Nadu and a strong India,’ a slogan coined by his father for his party.

However, Mr. Vasan’s party may not be able to head a front because other smaller parties such as the PMK and the BJP entertain such aspirations. If Mr. Vasan still decides to form an alternative front, he may find partners only in MDMK general secretary Vaiko and DMDK leader Vijayakant, political observers say. Yet, his decision has livened up the political scene as the new party could well become the fulcrum of a new alliance.

For parties, including the DMK, which now find it almost impossible to coexist with the Congress that faces rough weather nationwide, Mr. Vasan’s party could be a via media to forge an alternative alliance, observers say.

“I agree that the TMC, as a regional outfit, will be the most sought after partner for both the DMK and the AIADMK. But I am not sure whether it will be like the same old TMC with added advantages as it was in 1996,” said a senior leader of the DMK. The overwhelming mood against the ruling AIADMK, G.K. Moopanar’s charisma and actor Rajnikant’s support to the DMK-TMC alliance had combined to pay rich dividends, he pointed out.

“The TMC was formed in the nick of time and instantly became the choice of the voters. Now, the Assembly elections are almost 18 months away, and Mr. Vasan, without the support of such important leaders as P. Chidambaram, Jayanthi Natarajan and K.S. Alagiri, needs to prove that he is the game-changer, and not the other leaders,” the DMK leader reasoned.