Chidambaram meets Sonia, fuels speculation

Former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi yesterday. The meeting is significant because Chidambaram's party, the Tamil Maanila Congress (Democratic Front), known in Tamil Nadu as the Congress Jananayaka Peravai, does not find any mention in the seat sharing arrangement announced by the Congress-DMK front a few days ago.

The official version of the meeting is that Chidambaram discussed the political situation in Tamil Nadu in the wake of the Congress aligning with the DMK and other parties for the coming Lok Sabha elections.

However, the question is, if his party is going to contest the Lok Sabha elections as a separate entity, where he is going to contest from.

His seat Sivaganga is currently represented in the Lok Sabha by E Natchiappan (Congress). To accommodate him, a seat will have to be found for Natchiappan.

Chidambaram has resisted advice to merge his party with the Congress. How he will achieve brand differentiation between the Congress and his party if they fight as two separate entities is not clear.

However, the Congress has made it clear on a number of occasions that it would like to have him in the party.

"A man of his talent will be an asset to the Congress," former Finance Minister Manmohan Singh is on record as having said.

In 2001, Chidambaram and his supporters revolted against the decision of their parent party, the Tamil Maanila Congress, to return to the Congress and fight the Assembly elections in alliance with the J Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK.

A bitter fight with his mentor, G Moopanar, ensued and Chidambaram left the TMC along with some of his supporters to form the Tamil Nadu Maanila Congress Democratic Front.

After Moopanar died his son merged the TMC into the Congress. Chidambaram stayed out, pursuing the theory that Tamil Nadu needed a break from the rule of Dravidian parties and parties like the TMC and the Congress needed to work together as a coalition to achieve this.

He is still believed to be of that view because at a public function in Tamil Nadu last month, he is reported to have spoken up in favour of coalitions.

speaking to reporters, Chidambaram said discussions between him and the Congress chief were cordial and they were related to his party working with the Congress in the elections.