IT APPEARS that Rahul Gandhi is making a sincere efforts in rejuvenating the party in Tamilnadu. It is really interesting to note that a national party is interested to develop its base in the state after a long time. It is all the more necessary to analyse the factors which pave the way for capturing power in Tamilnadu. First and foremost the people of Tamilnadu are highly possesive about their culture, language and have sentiments of their own. The Indian National Congress must first address to some of its own policies vis a vis the expectations of the State.
After the Late Kamaraj there has been virtually no leader of late from the Congress who understood the needs of the Common man in the state of Tamilnadu . Even for naming the Domestic Air Terminal in Chennai the Congress men had to look at Karunanidhi . Not only this even for naming the Inner ring road in the name of Jawaharlal Nehru or naming of the IT Highway in the name of Rajiv Gandhi the Congress had to rely on the mercy of Karunandhi.
Incidentally, it is to be noted that some of the Congressmen who support AIADMK had to be happy with whatever the AIADMK Supremos whether the Late MGR or Ms Jayalalithaa does. As a matter of fact the Congress men including the Late G.K Moopanar were merely silent spectators when the Late MGR hijacked the Noon meal scheme of the Great Kamaraj. Till date they have not uttered that it was originally envisaged by the great leader of their party. Further more, the party has to spell out its stand clearly in respect of the Cauvery dispute, Hogenakkal Drinking water Project, Mullaiperiyar Dam Issue, Sethu Samudram Canal Project, pending Railway Projects etc.. In all these cases the Congress has been playing safe without any commitment till now. Once it is aspiring to come to power then it has to spell out its stand clearly. The Congress has to bear in mind that all these issues are sensitive and should tread carefully. Inspite of Rajiv Gandhi's tireless efforts in 1988 the Congress could not garner more votes than what it had earlier obtained. This is mainly because that the people of Tamilnadu are wary of the Congress. The people of Tamilnadu know very well that inspite of the fact that all is not clean with the present regime, it is better than the others. Some of the issues are so case sensitive that they do not disclose them but they give their answer through the Ballot. All must understand that the wash out of the AIADMK in Southern Tamilnadu where the party was once considered to be strong was not because of the'Alagiri Factor' alone. It was also becuase of the fact that the AIADMK back tracked its stand on the Sethu Samudram Project - which is considered to be a dream Project of the people of Southern Tamilnadu. It has to be borne in mind that the Late Kamaraj has been the only selfless leader who had toiled for the sake of the state and it was due to his untiring efforts that the state has come up to a good foundation. It has to be accepted that after him the only other leader who has brought in industries and other infra-structure development in the state is Karunanidhi. Eventhough the Late MGR had ruled the state for 10 long years, he has paid little attention to these aspects. He could have used his influence and brought in many developmental projects but he did nothing. Regarding Ms. Jayalalithaa, less said is better. The present move to infuse fresh blood by conducting elections for the Youth Congress is commendable. Rahul Gandhi must understand that those who have now been elected have not aspired to help the party to capture power, on the contrary they have contested to share the spoils of power in case the party comes to power. This is evident from the fact that the present MPs and MLAs of the party have least shown interest in getting the Projects pertaining to the state expedited. So, before snapping the ties with the DMK and contesting alone the Congress leadership must introspect on all these points.
0 comments:
Post a Comment