Defending to die

Mid-November last year, M Karunanidhi started digging the DMKs 2011 electoral grave when he told his partymen to profess A Rajas innocence. Raja had just put in his papers as the Union telecom minister after the 2G spectrum controversy threatened to consume him.

On Thursday, a day after the Central Bureau of Investigations arrested Raja, Karunanidhi wrote the partys 2011 electoral epitaph through a resolution endorsed by his partys general council: Merely because Raja is arrested, he cannot be considered guilty.

How a leader considered a master strategist could commit such a double fault in quick succession beats me. Had it been from someone with principles, I could understand the suicidal tendency. For a leader who has dropped alliance partners and party lieutenants before one could spell d-h-a-r-m-a, principles cannot be the reason for the systematic hara-kiri.

The problem with such irrational acts of self-proclaimed rationalists is that you cant make out if they are born out of fear or foolhardiness. But once you come to understand that foolhardiness is often the flip side of fear, you see things clearer. And the seemingly irrational acts suddenly have two legitimate parents!

So, what does Kalaignar fear? Of being labelled guilty, apparently. When the spectrum issue was hotting up in November after the Comptroller & Auditor General put the loss of public money through 2G at Rs 1,76,000 crore, and pointed to several irregularities by Raja, Karunanidhi refused to remove him from the cabinet or the party post of propaganda secretary. His fear: Rajas removal would amount to admission of guilt, which he had to share with his prodigy.

For not just the party, but part of Chennais first family too, Raja has been an obedient young man who earned more than just brownie points. That was a good reason to support him. But why did the leader not support him in private and disown him in public? Realpolitik, yes, wouldnt that been a smart thing to do?

That would have s! ilenced the political rivals and the media for a while, and even taken a bit of steam off the controversy and, probably, the probe. And the DMK would have got some time to devise new distractions before the poll bugle sounds in a couple of months.

Karunanidhis fears compounded when Raja was forced to quit as the telecom minister on November 15, 2010. It has now manifested as a reckless show of courage to move a resolution supporting Raja, though he was removed from the party post. This reverberated at an impressive DMK show at Saidapet in the evening. But lost in the din were some political realities-present and impending. The arrest has given more ammo to the Opposition, myriad stories for the media, and more than a migrane for the DMK.

Now, Congress, which never got to taste power since 1967, will become more demanding with the DMK. Karunanidhis other probable allies like PMK may try to put their feet down. When the poll bandwagons start rolling, DMKs ousted propaganda secretary would be at the centre of the Opposition propaganda. And, if J Jayalalithaa has turned any wiser, Rs 1,76,000 crore could be the astronomical number that could be printed on placards and posters across the state.

However, it is still too early to say if DMK would go on to drive the last nail in its own coffin. For, Indian politics has shown that a foolish Opposition can bring back a foolhardy ruling party from brain death.