COVER STORY

A fortifying message

T.S. SUBRAMANIAN
in Tiruchi

"FROM Rock Fort to Fort St. George by 2001." This was the message that was dinned into the ears of the cadres of the Tamil Nadu unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party at the party's fourth State conference held on the banks of the Cauvery in Tiruchi on March 20 and 21. The allusions, intended to inspire BJP cadres to work towards capturing power in the State when Assembly elections are held by 2001, were to the landmark site in Tiruchi and the seat of power in Chennai respectively.

The slogan may be an expression of the BJP's overly optimistic outlook: the BJP currently has only one member in the 234-member State Assembly. The party plans to lure the people of the State away from the 30-year reign by Dravidian parties and lead them into the "national mainstream". The theme of the conference was: "Tamil Nadu is on the side of nationalism."

State BJP general secretary L. Ganesan tempered this expression of overweening ambition with realism. He said that it was enough if the party played a substantial role in deciding who should form the next government in Tamil Nadu. Ganesan said: "When we say 'From Rock Fort to Fort St. George', it does not mean we have begun the journey from Tiruchi to Fort St. George. We are clear that we should vanquish the DMK in 2001. The BJP is also clear that an alternative government should be formed in Tamil Nadu and that the BJP should have a substantial role in it."

Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee, who took part in the conference, however, had a word of caution: he said that this should be done without antagonising the BJP's key ally in the State - the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). This expression of caution was significant in the context of the absence of AIADMK general secretary and former Chief Minister Jayalalitha, who declined invitations to take part in the public meeting organised as part of the conference. Vajpayee said that the BJP in the State was charged with a dual responsibility: of strengthening itself and "working in close cooperation with other friendly parties who are partners in the Government at the Centre." He was glad that the State unit had decided to work for a change of government in the State by 2001. "With the support of the people and cooperation of other friendly parties, it will not be an impossible task. Though it will be a difficult task, I hope you workers will accept this challenge," Vajpayee told his party's cadres.

The conference was significant for its other highlights as well: a virulent attack on the Congress(I) by Vajpayee himself; a denunciation of the Congress(I) accepting the "imported leadership" of Sonia Gandhi (State BJP general secretary H. Raja said it was no longer the Indian National Congress but the Italian National Congress); criticism of the Left parties, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) for "shamelessly supporting Sonia Gandhi for the prime ministership of this country"; and criticism of the DMK Government in the State for allegedly "going soft" on Al-Umma, the Muslim fundamentalist organisation allegedly responsible for the serial blasts in Coimbatore last year.

Union Minister for Power and BJP Lok Sabha member from Tiruchi, Rangarajan Kumaramangalam, came out strongly against the DMK's alleged lenience towards Al-Umma. He recalled how Dr. V. Sridhar, president of the Tiruchi city unit of the BJP, was murdered allegedly by Al-Umma activists in February this year. Kumaramangalam said: "Fundamentalists give fatwas from jail. They killed Dr. Sridhar. Encouragement is given to terrorists (by the DMK Government). The terrorists killed a jail warder (Jayaprakash in Madurai)." Kumaramangalam urged the Prime Minister to ask the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister to look into the law and order situation in the State.

VINO JOHN
At the public meeting organised in Tiruchi by the Tamil Nadu unit of the BJP, Prime Minister Vajpayee and (from right) Defence Minister George Fernandes, Power Minister Rangarajan Kumaramangalam, MDMK leader Vaiko, PMK leader S. Ramadoss, and BJP leader Narendra Modi.

Addressing the public meeting, Vajpayee responded thus: "Anti-national elements are active in Tamil Nadu. A watch is being kept on this. Since law and order is a State subject, the Tamil Nadu Government should take action." Earlier, at a press conference, the Prime Miniser said that although the State Government had taken some action, "the ISI's (Inter-Services Intelligence of Pakistan) and fundamentalists' activities have to be rooted out." What was required was more effort by the State Government in this regard, and the Centre was prepared to help it, Vajpayee said.

The conference brought into the open the schism among the BJP's allies in Tamil Nadu - the AIADMK, the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) and the Tamilaga Rajiv Congress (TRC). Jayalalitha stayed away, perhaps piqued that she got only faxed invitations and was not personally contacted by any BJP leader. But some BJP leaders said that the real reason for her absence was the presence of MDMK general secretary Vaiko and TRC leader and Union Petroleum Minister Vazhapadi K. Ramamurthi. Both the MDMK and the TRC have now fallen out with the AIADMK, their ally in the February 1998 Lok Sabha elections. Jayalalitha told a top BJP leader who met her recently that AIADMK cadres would not like her attending a public meeting along with Vaiko and Ramamurthi, who had turned against her.

Vajpayee reacted to her absence thus: "I am sorry she did not attend it. I had a similar experience in Calcutta" (a reference to the absence of Trinamul Congress leader Mamata Banerjee at the BJP's rally in Calcutta).

This is the third time that Jayalalitha has kept away from a function attended by Prime Minister Vajpayee. She did not attend a public meeting organised by the MDMK in Chennai in September 1998, in which Vajpayee and leaders of other coalition parties took part. She went to Tiruchi then to preside over an AIADMK rally. Again, when Vajpayee came to Chennai in January 1999 to inaugurate the Science Congress, she preferred to be in Hyderabad.

At the public meeting, Vaiko, Dr. S. Ramadoss of the PMK and Ramamurthi unequivocally pledged their support for the continuance of the Vajpayee Government.

According to State BJP leaders H. Raja, Dr. V. Maitreyan and Sukumar Nambiar, Tiruchi was chosen the venue because it was centrally situated in Tamil Nadu. Besides, Union Minister Kumaramangalam represented the constituency.

This was the biggest conference for the State BJP so far in terms of participation of the cadres, their enthusiasm, and pubic turnout. The three previous conferences were held in December 1983-January 1984 in Coimbatore; August 1995 in Madurai; and October 1997 in Tiruchi.