Each constituent of the 14-member United Front seems to be taking turns to make life dangerous for the ruling coalition in a show of competitive intransigence. DMK President M. Karunanidhi's outburst in Chennai on Monday would have been a more constructive exercise if he hadn't chosen to couch his argument in riddles. What can be made out from his latest polemical exposition is that the DMK is not prepared to associate itself with some person's personal wishes and some party's `personal' minimum programme. Who and what these persons and parties are need urgent clarification. Also, why did he choose this particular moment to go for the UF's jugular? No one would dispute the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister's observation that governance should be marked by dignity and adherence to principle. But it doesn't require great political acumen to observe that dignity and adherence to principle were not among the UF's strong points right from the heady days when political expediency gave birth to the hydra-headed formation.In any case, as a founding constituent of the UF, the DMK cannot shrug off its own responsibility and involvement in creating and sustaining the ruling coalition. If anything, Karunanidhi was an active player in the backroom politics that saw I.K. Gujral replace H.D. Deve Gowda as Prime Minister this May. Many commentators had at that time remarked that by keeping TMC strongman G.K. Moopanar out of the reckoning, Karunanidhi was following his own personal minimum programme in foiling the chances of a potential rival. A political coalition can only work in a spirit of give and take, where personal losses are sometimes suffered for the larger good. It cannot survive in an atmosphere of mutual suspicion. It also requires a free and frank exchange of views conducted with maturity and understanding. Clearly, this was not the case with the ruling coalition. Karunanidhi's unhappiness with the UF was not expressed earlier. The first public indication of some reservation on his part came only last Friday when he differed sharply with the UF leadership on the issue of the entry of Laloo Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal into the UF and argued in favour of it. A couple of days later, he is now proposing the radical step of getting the four DMK ministers in the Union Cabinet to resign and withdrawing as a constituent of the UF, while supporting it from outside. It's all a bit inscrutable.This leads up to the inevitable question: Whither the UF? Will it unravel like a piece of knitting or manage to weather the storm as it has done many others. As always, the UF's destiny does not lie in its own hands, but in those of its main prop. The Congress and its assessment of its own chances of coming to power will continue to put its stamp on Indian politics. Unfortunately, while this arrangement to shore up a lameduck coalition may help the political class, it does not serve the interests of the people of this country, as important issues of governance remain unaddressed.
