The hitherto low-intensity conflict between alliance partners Dravida Munnetra Khazagham (DMK) and the Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) has been further soured by the decision of the DMK not to invite any leader from the TMC for its three-day level conference beginning at Salem in Tamil Nadu from today.
The conference, considered to prove a turning point in the partys 49-year-old history, is expected to take several important decisions, particularly on a perspective plan to lead the party into the twenty-first century, DMK sources here said.
This is the first such party meeting since the DMK recaptured power last year.
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As a frontline member of the United Front, the DMK has invited several leaders from constituent parties, but none from the TMC. Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu is scheduled to address the conference on July 29, the sources said, and disclosed that no invitation had been extended to any TMC leader.
An important item on the conferences agenda is a review of the performance of the ministers in the M Karunanidhi government. Most of the ministers are district secretaries. Party sources did not rule out the possibility of Karunanidhi going in for a reshuffle after the conference. The experience of the party in the United Front will also come for discussion.
The DMK and TMC fought last years Lok Sabha and assembly elections as alliance partners. However, relations have progressively soured between the two, particularly at the district level.
A majority of TMC workers are former Congressmen, and have had a history of conflict with DMK workers at various levels in the state. The animosity is said to have continued.
On its part, the TMC has formulated its own agenda: it aspires to become a major force in the state, even strong enough to rule Tamil Nadu.
This can only pose a hurdle to the DMK, which has steadily increased the decibel level of its criticism of its alliance partner. The TMC has resolved to retain its separate identity under pressure from its workers, and is unlikely to return to the Congress fold in the near future.
Apart from the recent incident of a DMK legislator going to court against a TMC MLA, there have been several instances of conflict between the two parties.
TMC chief G K Moopanar recently declared that the party would play the role of a constructive opposition.
This prompted a retort from Karunanidhi that the TMC was playing the role of a destructive opposition, and was indeed acting like an enemy.
In April, Union finance minister P Chidambaram warned the Karunanidhi government that the TMC would not hesitate to agitate to secure more powers, funds and respect for the local bodies in the state. He said though elections had been held to local bodies, the chairmen were no more than glorified dolls as adequate powers and funds had not been devolved.
The TMC celebrated the first anniversary of its existence at Coimbatore, and used the occasion to hit at the DMK. The party referred to the common perception that there was corruption at the lower levels of administration. Though at the top, the DMK government conveyed that it was against corruption, one could not get a community certificate or any paper from a tehsildar officers without greasing palms, Chidambaram alleged.