BHARAT BALLOT 09: MARCH 24 SOUTHERN SNAPSHOTS, VOLUME 2

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 CHENNAI 000086 SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PTER PHUM KDEM IN SUBJECT: BHARAT BALLOT 09: MARCH 24 SOUTHERN SNAPSHOTS, VOLUME 2 REF: Chennai 59 ¶1. (U) This report is the second in a periodic series of election-related items in South India that highlight important information not featured in our other reporting. This edition of "Southern Snapshots" covers: -- Tamil Nadu: BJP searching in vain for alliance partners in Tamil Nadu -- Tamil Nadu: Sri Lankan Tamils are the issue for MDMK -- Tamil Nadu: Lawyers call off court boycott -- Karnataka: Congress kicks off national campaign in Karnataka -- Karnataka: Third Front launches campaign in Karnataka -- Andhra Pradesh: Election Commission enforces Model Code of Conduct Tamil Nadu: BJP searching mostly in vain for alliance partners -------------- ¶1. (U) Although a major player in most of India's states, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) continues to be largely shut out of Tamil Nadu's politics. After drawing little interest from Tamil Nadu's two major parties -- the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) -- the BJP is trying to work out an alliance with several smaller parties in the state, including the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) and Akila India Samathuva Makkal Katchi (AISMK),but there are few positive indications from the these parties, either. The president of the BJP's Tamil Nadu chapter told the press that his party had held "informal talks" with the AISMK, which had "expressed its willingness" to join forces. He also said that the BJP had contacted the DMDK, which he said planned to "keep its options open," noting that the BJP would be a "natural ally" to both parties. (The DMDK has since announced that it will join no formal alliances in the state.) Media reports suggest that the BJP is also keen on working with the caste-based Akhila Indiya Naadalum Makka Katchi (AINMK),a marginal player in Tamil Nadu politics that has yet to respond to the BJP's overtures. Tamil Nadu: Sri Lankan Tamils unsurprisingly the issue for MDMK -------------- ¶2. (U) Citing what he viewed as the UPA government's "betrayal" and the DMK government's "inaction" in stopping violence against Sri Lanka's Tamils, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) general secretary Vaiko announced that the plight of Tamils in Sri Lanka will be the main issue for his party in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. He did not rule out the possibility of post-election alliances with either the BJP or the Third Front parties, all of which oppose the current Congress-led UPA government. ¶3. (SBU) Comment: Vaiko, an ardent supporter of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE),has long tried to influence Tamil Nadu voters to support the Sri Lankan Tamil cause. The 1991 assassination of Rajiv Gandhi by the LTTE turned local opinion against the Tigers, limiting Vaiko's ability to turn the issue into a base for political support. The increasingly dire situation of Tamil civilians trapped in Sri Lanka's civil war, however, has led nearly all of Tamil Nadu's parties -- including the AIADMK, the principal opposition party -- to make the plight of Sri Lanka's Tamils something of a cause celebre (see reftel). This has raised the hopes of Vaiko and his supporters that the Lok Sahba elections will bring the Sri Lankan issue back to the political forefront in Tamil Nadu, to his party's benefit. Tamil Nadu: Lawyers call off court boycott -------------- ¶4. (U) On March 19, Tamil Nadu lawyers called off a two-month boycott of the courts and announced their return to work. What started off on January 30 as a strike in support of the Sri Lankan Tamils turned into a tense standoff that featured violent clashes between the lawyers and the police. The strike also pitted the lawyers against Tamil Nadu's government, and totally paralyzed the state's courts for nearly seven weeks. ¶5. (U) The confrontation took a particularly nasty turn on February 19 when the police attempted to arrest lawyers accused of assault on CHENNAI 00000086 002 OF 003 an anti-LTTE political leader from Tamil Nadu on the premises of the state's High Court in Chennai. A group of lawyers began throwing rocks at the police, prompting the police to surge into the High Court premises. They beat up numerous lawyers with their police batons (lathis) in full view of reporters' cameras and the High Court's judges. Several judges were also caught up in the melee. For their part, the lawyers burned down a police station located inside the High Court compound. A one-man commission headed by retired Supreme Court judge, Srikrishna, blamed both sides, but upheld most of the police's allegations in his interim report. The lawyers rejected the commission's findings and continued the court boycott, greatly inconveniencing thousands of individuals with cases before the Court. ¶6. (U) A breakthrough finally came on March 18, when the High Court directed the State Government to suspend two senior police officers who were in command at the time of the incident. The court also said that the advocates had no right to strike and urged them to return to the courts. Karnataka: Congress kicks off national campaign in Karnataka -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Sonia Gandhi kicked off the Congress Party's Lok Sabha campaign in Devangere, central Karnataka on March 23. The Karnataka kickoff for Congress's national campaign is intended to be something of a good-luck charm. Roshen Baig, an aspirant for a Congress candidacy and current member of the Karnataka's Legislative Assembly, told us that in prior elections Congress returned to power every time its campaign started in Karnataka. Baig and others told us that such geographical luck was not the only factor taken into consideration, noting that the date of the kickoff was changed from March 21 to take advantage of a more astrologically auspicious day. ¶8. (SBU) Manjunath Bhandary, a Karnataka-based member of the Congress Party's leadership, told us that the party expected to do well, despite some media predictions to the contrary. Bhandary opined that Congress would have a tacit understanding with the regional Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) party, which would ensure that Congress increased its tally of seats (it received 8 seats in the last election),although he emphasized that alliance details were still being worked out. ¶9. (SBU) Speaking to us after the event, Bhandary said that the kickoff was well-attended, but something of a "damp squib," rather than a raucous celebration. He noted that Sonia spoke in Hindi without the benefit of a translator so that most of the crowd was unable to understand most of what she said. Karnataka: Third Front launches campaign in Karnataka -------------- ¶10. (U) Representatives of ten regional and ideologically fringe parties from across India held a rally in Tumkur, 60 kilometers northwest of Bangalore on March 12th to launch a "Third Front" as an alternative to Congress and BJP in the upcoming elections. Members of the Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) from Karnataka, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M),the Communist Party of India (CPI),the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP),the Forward Bloc from West Bengal, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) from Andhra Pradesh, the AIADMK from Tamil Nadu, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) from Andhra Pradesh, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Haryana Janhit Congress attended the rally. CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat declared to the crowd: "This is a historic get-together of all the democratic, secular and Left parties to declare that we are all coming together to constitute a third force in this country." Andhra Pradesh: Election Commission enforces Model Code of Conduct -------------- ¶11. (U) In a sign of its seriousness about its enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct, the Election Commission directed the Andhra Pradesh government to immediately shift Director General of Police ¶S. S. P. Yadav to a non-election related post because of remarks the officer made during a speech. The Election Commission's directive came after reports in the media and complaints from opposition parties indicated that Director General Yadav publicly praised the CHENNAI 00000086 003 OF 003 state's chief minister, in violation of the Election Commission's Model Code of Conduct. SIMKIN