Chennai: Days after TVK’s ‘friendly parties’ met and decided to take forward the formation of an official alliance, differences among alliance partners have begun to surface. CPI and CPM have questioned govt’s decision to provide jobs to the kin of the 41 victims who died in a stampede during a TVK rally in Karur on Sept 27 last year, while MDMK has rejected VCK’s proposal for a DMK-TVK joint fight against BJP.CPI MP K Subbarayan said that offering govt jobs to the families of those who died in a political meeting would have adverse consequences. “History will consider this move an abuse of power,” he said. “The responsibility and duty to compensate such deaths is with the respective political parties. Burdening the govt with the task is unacceptable for a democratic political system,” he added CPM state secretary P Shanmugam said offering govt jobs when the investigation is under way would dilute the legal process.Meanwhile, yet another contradiction on the nascent alliance emerged in the form of VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan saying that DMK and TVK should together be part of a front at the national level to take on BJP. MDMK general secretary Vaiko responded, questioning the possibility of bringing together “north and south”.VCK MP Ravikumar also criticised TVK govt’s move to rename Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare department as Social Justice department. “Adi Dravida does not denote a caste. It is an identity won after a hard-fought battle by dalit icons such as M C Rajah and Rettaimalai Srinivasan,” he said. Scrapping the nomenclature would dilute the exclusive attention and funds given to scheduled castes, he added.Ironically, VCK leader Vanni Arasu is the minister for Social Justice department. He defended the renaming, saying social justice reflected a broader vision and would not change the way the department has been functioning.Thirumavalavan also faced flak for his statement that being part of TVK govt doesn’t mean he has severed ties with DMK. While TNCC chief Manickam Tagore said Thiruma should avoid such “word play”, Vaiko said the VCK leader should be given a “Nobel prize” for the remark. Vaiko eventually said he was withdrawing the rebuttal.Political critic Tharasu Shyam said the differences between the allies are because it was a post-poll alliance aimed at govt formation. “It is natural for alliance parties to have ideological differences on policy matters. Thorny contradictions may emerge in the coming days,” he said. This lack of cohesion is why TVK was trying to secure its own majority, he added.Political commentator T S S Mani, however, said such differences in the alliance point to a healthy democracy. “In the previous DMK and AIAMDK govts, alliance parties were mere spectators. Since allies are part of the govt, there are healthy debates,” he said.
