JUST SPAMMING | Defections, Defective Political Perspectives
Though the CPI manages to remain as a force to reckon with in the political cauldron of Tamil Nadu only because it has won two seats in the recent Assembly elections – one by K Marimuthu in Thiruthuraipoondi and the other by T Ramachandran in Thalli – and also because the two representatives that it has in the Lok Sabha are also from Tamil Nadu – K Subbarayan from Tiruppur and R Selvam from Nagapattinam
One of the perceptible changes in the changed political scenario is defections that have been happening left right and centre without any impunity. The Communist Party of India (CPI) that had held on to the apron strings of the Dravidian major, DMK, for over a decade let go of it last week. It was unable to hang on to the long-term ally under the ‘present circumstances,’ the party honchos clarified without mentioning what was irking them in the present circumstances and what those circumstances exactly were. But no one has the energy and patience to seek such clarifications in the present circumstances, in which defections are glorified or at least celebrated without impunity.
Though the CPI manages to remain as a force to reckon with in the political cauldron of Tamil Nadu only because it has won two seats in the recent Assembly elections – one by K Marimuthu in Thiruthuraipoondi and the other by T Ramachandran in Thalli – and also because the two representatives that it has in the Lok Sabha are also from Tamil Nadu – K Subbarayan from Tiruppur and R Selvam from Nagapattinam. It may be prudent to point out that all those CPI representatives in the State legislature and Parliament are there only because of the DMK but facts are facts.
Of course every party has the right to choose its partner in politics. But after winning seats in Parliament and legislature by contesting elections in alliance with a party if one party wants to snap ties unilaterally common decency would demand giving up that post and going in for newer arrangements. But here, the CPI will not relinquish the two MLA seats and the two MP seats though everyone knows that they could not have won them without the DMK’s backing. That there are no laws governing the breaking of coalitions on the lines of the anti-defection law for individuals, help parties to walk out of an alliance as they wished. So the CPI has done nothing illegitimate.
Even the Congress party did nothing illegitimate in Tamil Nadu when it snapped ties with the DMK, in whose alliance it won five Assembly seats. As soon as the Congress realized that the DMK was not going to form the government, it leaped out of the coalition to land in the lap of the TVK that gave it two ministerial berths. What the Congress forgot was that the DMK had given it one Rajya Sabha seat during the seat-sharing negotiations. That one RS seat was given out of goodwill and with the hope that the Congress would remain an ally. But the Congress found greener pastures in the greenhorn politician’s party and took the leap.
If these were parties, lacking in ethics, that deserted their long-time fellow travelers in the rough and tumble of politics and took collective decisions to switch sides, several individual politicians too jumped ship exposing their lack of ideology or principles. In fact that trend started ahead of the elections with K A Sengottaiyan, a prominent leader of the AIADMK – he claims that he could have become the Chief Minister – defecting to the TVK of C Joseph Vijay. Looking back, Sengottaiyan was politically sagacious. For, he contested the elections as a TVK candidate in its maiden electoral outing, won his seat and became a Minister in the State, the best he could have expected even if he had remained loyal to his parent party, the AIADMK.
If at all there was anything incongruent in the TVK opening the doors for the seasoned politician who had been a member of the AIADMK for about five decades, it was his convictions in a couple of graft cases, which were subsequently rescinded by the High Court. For, the TVK, at that time was vehemently speaking against corruption. Anyway, the TVK reconciled itself to admitting besmirched persons into its fold and Sengottaiyan, too, cannot be accused of defection since the AIADMK itself had expelled him for joining hands with ousted leaders like O Panneerselvam and T T V Dinakaran. But the shocking series of defections from the AIADMK started with former Minister Vellamandi N Natarajan and former DGP and ex-MLA from Mylapore R Nataraj joining the TVK with about 300 others, including a couple of former MLAs
Those leaders had enjoyed the benefits offered by the political life when the AIADMK was in power and then jumped ship that they felt was sinking. In another category were four MLAs elected in AIADMK tickets, Maragatham Kumaravel, S Jayakumar, P Sathyabama and Esakki Subaya, suddenly handing over their resignations to the Speaker in the Secretariat and then going up to the floor above to meet a TVK minister. They hope to get nominated by the TVK in their constituencies when the by-elections come – they have to be held in six months – and get elected again. While they can be appreciated for the fantastic risk they have taken as there is every chance of the people rejecting them as TVK candidates.
The most sensational defection, however, came as the week came to an end. S Vijayadharani, once a long time Congress leader who switched over to the BJP in 2024, suddenly went to Pannaiyur to join the TVK, along with some others. Why is there a craze among politicians, including those elected to posts, to join the ruling party? If you can figure that out, you will understand our politics better.
