How parting ways with Congress will help DMK fight the 2G war

If the DMK had to take great pains to hide its 2G taint and the man behind the scam A Raja during its miserable 2011 assembly elections, the party seems to have become bolder ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Instead of pushing away Raja, the party is now rallying behind him and is amplifying his voice. Their point is simple and straightforward: if Raja is wrong, the Prime Minister is also wrong. That Raja’s repeated pleas to be heard by the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on 2G had been consistently stonewalled by its chairman PC Chacko adds credibility to their claims. [caption id=“attachment_716486” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] A Raja. AFP.[/caption] Buoyed by his party’s support, Raja is bolder than ever before.“I had done everything in consultation with the Prime Minister. After demitting office, I told everyone that whatever I did was in consultation with the Prime Minister,” said Raja. “How can one believe that a Minister misled the Prime Minister?,” is DMK chief Karunanidhi’s cryptic refrain. The party’s spokesperson in Delhi, TKS Elangovan said without hearing Raja, the charges against the tainted minister were false. Two events have helped the DMK in turning the tables on the Congress: one, the snapping of ties with the Congress and two, the leaked portions of the JPC report which exonerate the PM and finance minister while putting all the blame on Raja. Since it no more belongs to the Congress camp and is not worried about good manners any more, the DMK, Karunanidhi and Raja lost no time in turning the heat on the Congress and taking the battle to where it hurts - the PMO. The party and Raja are clear that if they sink, they will take Manmohan Singh along whether PC Chacko likes it or not. This is going to be its 2G and election strategy. In hindsight, the DMK’s divorce from the Congress seems to have been orchestrated more in anticipation of the JPC report and the need for adequate elbow room to take on the Congress on 2G than to protect the interests of the Sri Lankan Tamils. Had the DMK been really serious about Sri Lankan Tamils, it should have left the Congress camp in 2009 itself. Or on many occasions later. Probably, the break-point was the timely realisation that its biggest adversary in the 2G battle will be none other than the Congress and that the BJP, the Left and other opposition parties will also like such a proposition. For the opposition, it’s Manmohan Singh and not Raja, that they are gunning for. Incidentally, some of the leaks that were published regularly by a national newspaper appeared to have been targeted more at Manmohan Singh than Raja. The unmissable quotes from a Left JPC member hitting at the PM in these reports indicated where the leaks came from. For the DMK, had the 2G scam not touched Karunanidhi’s family members, it could have easily saved itself by hiving off Raja. But willy nilly, others are implicated too. The only way out, therefore, is to convince the electorate in Tamil Nadu that Raja did no wrong because he had kept the Prime Minister informed. Therefore, if Raja is guilty, Manmohan Singh also is guilty. Perhaps, this clever strategy of guilt by association was the safety feature that was built into the design of the 2G scam. According to available information, the DMK will aggressively take its position to the people ahead of the elections. Party and public meetings will certainly see senior leaders explaining Raja’s innocence, Manmohan Singh’s approval of whatever he did and how the Congress is making Raja a scapegoat for political reasons. And Sri Lanka? Oh yes, as in the past, it will be a good tool to quiver in outrage and shed tears.