Bangalore
Date : 01.06.2010
Mrs. Sonia Gandhi,
President,
Indian National Congress,
24, Akbar Road,
New Delhi-100 000
Dear Mrs.Gandhi,
Sub: Tamil Nadu Congress Alliance – regarding
You must have seen the news report that the DMK’s highest policy making body met and deliberated the Rajya Sabha nominees and also about taking into its alliance the PMK, the erstwhile ally of the ADMK.
The DMK chief had given his own not so honest interpretation for what his party had done. The DMK seems to have completely taken over the Congress party in the state and had resorted to all sorts of corrupt deals with the Congress leaders and key functionaries.
This started as innocent coalition exercise by distributing perks, from some assignments as heads of some government corporations, with cars, bungalows and monthly payments and this has now assumed dangerous proportions, leading to some big time corruption and even criminal activities.
The Congress party is almost non-functional now for all practical purposes. Now, the DMK sets the agenda for the Congress and the TNCC is made a helpless spectator.
The PMK is an OBC-obsessed Vanniar caste outfit. The Vanniars is a large community in TN and it had many eminent leaders who were all entirely non-communal and secular and they would not have sought this sort of blatant opportunistic alliance-hopping in which the PMK is an expert body.
Now, the DMK chief had mentioned the DMK-Congress alliance had taken the PMK on board to fight the 2011 Assembly elections. For such a decision there is no Congress participation or consultation. The TNCC is functioning, I regret to say, in a very negative way. Everyday, the TNCC chief and the Legislative party chief regularly meet the DMK chief and almost get their instructions and act as if they are the propaganda wings of the ruling party. This is highly deplorable to say the least.
At least the Congress leadership should lay down some guidance and ask for some progress report of what the state unit is doing.
At least, this should be the minimum guidelines. The TNCC never for once seems to have met as far as I know. No news in the media. The other more damaging development I wanted to bring to your immediate attention is the real estate deals done by the DMK chief.
All 234 MLAs have been allotted prime real estate on the Mahabalipuram highway, each plot, the observers say, could fetch up to Rs.75 lakhs to Rs.one crore. MLAs already have separate living accommodations in the city near the Assembly buildings.
This has created a furore in the press and revulsion in the public mind. What is the rationale for this blatant corruption on the part of the ruling party. There were reports already about how in the Assembly when the debate pertained to this day-light bribery on the part of the ruling party, the Congress MLAs enthusiastically welcomed the land distribution and they, the Congress MLAs, even shouted down the Communist MLA who stood up to protest, in principle, for such illegal and highly objectionable land deal! So, how the Congress party would be looked upon in the state?
I am not sure whether some had brought to your attention this land deal. Much more corruption deals are going on ,I am told by insiders and also highly committed Congress workers and other leaders. There are reports from senior Congress leaders that select Congress MLAs are paid regular sums and also given lucrative assignments. These are all making rounds and are very damaging to the image of the party.
There is a movement to demand for the Congress party to go it alone and the Congress party to take the initiatives to form a separate alliance under the Congress auspices. We are celebrating the 108th Kamaraj birthday on the 19th of July,2010 in Chennai and for which we find the response from some friendly parties of nationalist credentials very encouraging.
Now, I want to share with you some of my well-thought out ideas and concerns. The Indian National Congress is the oldest party organisation in the country and perhaps in the world as well, apart from the British, French and German parties or ideologies. Now, the Congress in the UPA-II avatar is faced with serious weaknesses. In the UPA-I, the coalition survived without trouble for at least the first four years. Now, within a year, the UPA-II is facing serious internal challenges.
Unless the Congress party takes serious steps, reorganise the organisation, adopts some basic management restructuring, say, go for decentralised democratic management practices, periodic internal performance audit and also periodic changes in the choice of Central observers to state units, there is going to be serious trouble for the party.
Just now, I read about the 25 years of the Perestroika in Russia and what the future holds for the democracy in Russia. A similar exercise and internal assessment must be made in the Indian National Congress as well. As far as Tamil Nadu is concerned I am of the firm view that such an unprincipled alliance with the DMK that is bent upon destroying all values and principles of a civilised democratic society can’t go on like this for long.
There is ferment in the state for an alternative alliance. So, organisations that are nationalist and secular and against casteist politics needs to be explored and cultivated for a new broad based alliance. I haven’t mentioned names of either leaders or parties. This I would do so at appropriate time and when I meet you sometime in the near future.
All this is for your information and necessary action.
With regards,
Yours sincerely,
V.Isvarmurti