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October 20, 2000

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Tamil Nadu, Karnataka govts under
Verappan syndrome pressure?

N Sathiya Moorthy in Madras

Are the Tamil Nadu and Karnataka Governments coming under the pressure of the Veerappan syndrome, for them to talk at tangent on obtaining freedom for kidnapped Kannada matinee icon Dr Rajakumar? With the kidnap drama dragging on for 81 days and with no end in sight, chief ministers of the two states are under political pressure that they have been able to keep at bay thus far.

"It is worse than the Stockholm syndrome that Rajakumar may be suffering from, the possibility of which the Tamil Nadu counsel told the Supreme Court bench hearing the Veerappan associates case," said a source.

"Given the compulsions of alliance politics involving the AIADMK rival of the ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu on the one hand and the ruling Congress in Karnataka, on the other, coupled with the well-known antipathy of the Congress leadership to pan-Tamil militants of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam variety, there's now friction in the bilateral handling of the drama."

In this context, the source refers to the controversy kicked up by Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Karnataka not being consulted on Tamil Nationalist Movement leader Pazha Nedumaran as an emissary to negotiate Rajakumar's release with Veerappan. "Sonia Gandhi's aversion is understandable, given Nedumaran's proximity to LTTE elements and his defence of the LTTE cause in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. But Karnataka was consulted in the matter."

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi has denied Sonia's charge, and is narrating how his Karnataka counterpart S M Krishna had talked to Nedumaran, himself, before.

"Krishna's political compulsions, given the Nehru-Gandhi family's antipathy towards pro-LTTE elements is understandable, so too the pressure that may be brought on the Congress high command, for his replacement. That doesn't mean that both sides have to start washing dirty linen in public."

Karunanidhi and Krishna have said that they would not waste words, when the more important task is to ensure early freedom for Rajakumar. "That rider itself says more than what words could," says the source, referring to Krishna's recall of an early day Karnataka statement that it was Tamil Nadu's responsibility to obtain Rajakumar's release.

"If the Karnataka claim in this regard in the first days of the kidnap drama was followed by Tamil Nadu's charge of not being kept informed about Rajakumar's movements, this time, Krishna's reiteration was in response to Tamil Nadu presenting its argument before the Supreme Court, as well."

Simultaneously, the Congress-AIADMK alliance politics in Tamil Nadu is taking its toll on the Rajakumar abduction. If Tamil Nadu Congress president E V K S Elangovan had defended the state government's line, in the larger interests of his party chief minister in Karnataka, now he is not so sure. The stoic silence of the Congress high command, on the AIADMK name-calling against him, led by party supremo Jayalalitha, seems to have sent out a message.

"The high command did not take note even of AIADMK leaders targeting Sonia," says a source close to the TNCC president. "With the result, we too have revised our stand in recent times." Only that Elangovan, instead of going all-out against the Karunanidhi government, as Jayalalitha has been doing in recent weeks, has confined himself to select issues involving the kidnap episode. He now wants Karunanidhi to take a leaf out of Krishna's line and convene an all-party meet to discuss the issue.

Indications are that the Karnataka and Tamil Nadu governments are at the end of their tether on handling the issue. Interestingly, Karunanidhi faces no challenge to the official line from within his party, while having to face 'measured criticism' from the TNCC, and unbridled accusations from Jayalalitha.

Desperate and frustrated after the Tansi case verdict that could lead to her disqualification in the assembly polls next year, Jayalalitha, out to pep up the morale of dispirited cadres, has been linking the DMK leadership to Veerappan and the LTTE, and charging them with a conspiracy to "disrupt the law and order situation in the state, when the AIADMK comes back to power next year".

The BJP ally of the DMK and the TMC ally of the AIADMK have been maintaining a dignified silence, saying that no one should say or do anything that would upset the early release of Rajakumar. Between the two, the TMC used to stop with saying that it has reservations about the state government's approach, but will not come out with criticism until the situation has been smoothened. Not any more.

Senior party leader and former Union minister for personnel, in-charge of agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation, S R Balasubramaniam, has since sought a white paper from the state government on the issues and queries raised by the apex court on the matter.

The BJP, too, can be expected to follow suit, as far as post-kidnap criticism goes.

Against this, Krishna faces most of the criticism from within the Congress in his state. While this criticism itself is mute, he seems to know where he is heading in the post-kidnap days, when dissidents in the party could seek his head - and settle for nothing else. To that extent, the BJP Opposition in the state has been careful to the fault, given the party's responsibilities as the ruler at the Centre, and its obligations to the DMK ally in Tamil Nadu.

Here, it is the Lok Shakti leader and former chief minister Ramakrishna Hegde, who has been targeting the two state governments and their approach, particularly the Tamil Nadu government, and the DMK's perceived pan-Tamil links.

The Rajakumar Abduction: complete coverage
The saga of Veerappan

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