Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa’s silence on the Ramdev issue, especially on the police action at the Ramlila Grounds in New Delhi, is being seen as a subtle signal to the Congress that the AIADMK is ready to do business with the Manmohan Singh government.
The AIADMK is perhaps the only major party that has not reacted so far on the police action while UPA constituents like the Trinamul Congress and NCP, too, have remained silent.
Asked whether it is the beginning of a coming together, AICC officials said “it looks like it”. But AIADMK insiders did not give such an impression this early. “We are with the Left parties,” they said, hinting that the AIADMK will play an Opposition role in Parliament. When their attention was drawn to the AIADMK’s silence on the Ramdev issue and the police action, they said, “Why should we comment on an incident in New Delhi?”
But the Left parties, including the CPI(M) and CPI, and parties like the Biju Janata Dal and the Telugu Desam, had criticised the use of police force at the Ramlila Grounds. Even the Janata Dal (S), led by former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, disapproved of the use of force.
In the UPA, National Conference leader and Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah had said “the initial decision of the Central government to turn Baba Ramdev back from Delhi airport on June 1 should have been implemented”.
Congress managers in touch with AIADMK MPs are trying to keep the latter in good humour after realising that the coming Monsoon Session will not be easy for the UPA in view of the sharp polarisation between the UPA and other political parties on the issue of corruption.
The government’s strategy to evolve a consensus on key bills (Lokpal, land acquisition, relief and rehabilitation, food security, communal violence and judicial accountability) is unlikely to work because of an aggressive Opposition.
The DMK, which has 18 members in the Lok Sabha, has been on the defensive on the corruption issue. While two DMK leaders — former Union minister A. Raja and Ms Kanimozhi — are in custody, a third, Union minister Dayanidhi Maran, is under pressure to resign.