Karti Chidambaram tells the South First about the crisis in the Tamil Nadu Congress; and its alliance with the DMK.
Congress MP Karti Chidambaram in a freewheeling interview to South First spoke on a host of current issues. (South First)
In an interview to South First, Karti Chidambaram, the Congress MP representing the Sivaganga constituency in Tamil Nadu, speaks extensively about the alleged misuse of central agencies by the Union Government to the BJP’s “Hindutva project”, from the crisis within the Congress party to its alliance with the DMK in Tamil Nadu.
Speaking about the Congress party in Tamil Nadu, and whether it is facing an identity crisis off late, Karti said that the party finds itself in a “slightly odd position” in the state — where it is in an alliance with DMK, but is not a part of the government”.
What this means is that the Congress cannot really play the role of an effective Opposition party in the state either, Karti said.
“That’s why it feels like the Congress doesn’t exert its identity. And that needs to be corrected. We either have to be in government or we have to be in opposition. We can’t be in this little no man’s land,” he said.
Simplifying it further, Karti stated: “We don’t have the freedom of an opposition party, nether do we have the luxury of a ruling party.”
This, according to him, is an “undefinable position in parliamentary democracy”.
Interestingly, the Congress MP suggested that, going forward, if the party is going to be in an alliance, and if that alliance wins, it should also be part of the government. Otherwise, it would prove to be “detrimental” to the Congress, he added.
Explaining why the Congress hasn’t been able to expand in Tamil Nadu beyond a certain point, Karti pointed out that the state is a very “presidential” one in terms of its elections, where people “vote for a leader or for a chief minister”.
“They don’t necessarily vote for a candidate or party or an alliance. First the make up their mind about who they want to see as chief minister and then the rest follows,” he said.
Karti believes that the Congress, after K Kamaraj, hasn’t been able to project anybody as a potential chief ministerial face whom people have a fancy for.
“We did it once in 1989 with Mr GK Moopanar. The AIADMK was split and we did reasonably well. But we did not persist with it. Since then, we have never projected a chief ministerial candidate. There has been no natural CM candidate who has come from the system as well,” he elaborated.
“There will be natural growth for the Congress in Tamil Nadu if there is a natural CM candidate who the party and public accept.”
Otherwise, “the Congress would always have to be a part of a formation to win”, Karti claimed.
However, according to him, it is not just the Congress which needs to be in an alliance to win. No party in Tamil Nadu can win without being an alliance as he believes that electoral alliance is an “absolute must” in the state.
There is speculation, especially on social media platforms, about the DMK moving closer to the BJP. However, Karti refused to buy that theory.
Providing reasons as to why he thought so, Karti said: “When the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (MK Stalin) makes a political speech, he very clearly articulates that his party (DMK) is completely opposed to the BJP ideologically. But as a CM of Tamil Nadu, he has to engage with the Prime Minister of India… If you are the CM, you need to have an equation with the prime minister, even if you are ideologically diametrically opposed to each other.”
To make his point, Karti went on to use the example of the Indian government dealing with the Taliban in Afghanistan.
“The Indian government deals with the Taliban. We have re-opened our embassy in Kabul. Can I say that the Indian government endorses the Taliban? This Hindutva government is endorsing this ultra-fundamentalist Islamic group? Can I say that? I cannot. That’s the government of Afghanistan, and India has to deal with the government of Afghanistan due to our strategic interests. The same way, anyone who is in government in Tamil Nadu, has to deal with the government of India,” he explained.
One of the other main allegations levelled against the DMK in Tamil Nadu is that somewhere the party is trying to peddle “soft Hindutva” in an attempt to shun its image of being an “anti-Hindu” party.
When asked about this, Karti claimed that the DMK is not playing the “soft Hindutva” card, but went on to explain why he though they were going through an “internal churn”.
“The DMK itself speaks in multiple voices on this issue. There are members of the DMK who are still vehemently atheists. But the leadership, which is the chief minister, seems to have taken a much broader outlook, saying that believers and non-believers co-exist. He acknowledges the fact that most people are believers. So, they are going through an internal churn. Their absolutism is getting diluted,” he said.
On the topic of Hindutva, Karti slammed the BJP and accused that the party’s Hindutva stance was converting Hinduism into an “Abrahamic religion”.
“The goal of the BJP is to make India a Hindu Iran. Like the Ayatollahs who rule there, they want a certain Hindutva “clergy”, for (want of a) better word, to rule India,” he said in a scathing comparison.
“The alliance is a winning alliance. It will continue. And I think we will win in 2024 as well,” was Karti’s response to the question.
Trying to emphasise that the DMK-Congress alliance is “strong” at the moment, he added that both parties had convergence on several issues — such as, both of them not wanting “Hindi-Hindutva” politics in Tamil Nadu, on federalism, etc.
However, “there are differences between the DMK and Congress and there will be differences. Otherwise, they both would become one political party”, he said.
The Congress MP also reminded that the party is a not merely an “addition”, but it is a “multiplier” in elections.
“When we stand by ourselves, we get a certain vote. The minute we are part of a formation, the vote is a multiplier. Because the people of the minority faith always get a little bit more confidence in a formation which has the Congress,” stated Karti while talking about why the “political equations” and the “arithmetic” works for the DMK-Congress alliance.
Describing K Annamalai, the Tamil Nadu BJP president as an “opportunist”, Karti opined that he is “not an ideological person moored in the Hindutva tradition, or someone who joined the party through an RSS shakha”.
“He was a police officer… then he resigned from the service. From what I’ve read, he was toying with the idea of joining a political party. And I think he was fondly hoping that Rajinikanth would form a party and he would go and pitchfork himself there. When that did not happen, he joined the BJP. So, he is not an ideological warrior. He is basically an opportunist… He is likely to change his tune as per his convenience in the future as well,” Karti charged.
Asked whether the BJP had become more aggressive in Tamil Nadu, the Congress MP said that wide media attention received by Annamalai — which he thinks is owing to the ads given by central government to media companies — and large, organised gatherings of the BJP cannot be equated with the party’s political growth.
“Yes, visibly you are seeing more of them and you are hearing more of them. But that does not necessarily mean that they are winning the hearts and minds of the people of Tamil Nadu who are very, very clear that they don’t like the Hindi-Hindutva brand of politics of the BJP,” Karti remarked.
He further stated that the strength of the BJP will be “truly tested” only if the party contests alone in the elections.
“BJP gets the benefit of being in an alliance with the AIADMK… While they keep threatening that they will contest on their own, hope they will actually do that and prove their mettle,” Karti added.
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