A Union Of Opposites

All new chief ministers carry a shopping cart to the prime minister after assuming office. Chief minister M.K. Stalin too had an itemised list for Tamil Nadu during his meeting with PM Narendra Modi—more Covid vaccines, payment of GST dues, central allocation for development schemes, scrapping of NEET.... And yet, Stalin’s government has sought to diminish the status of the Centre by a clever play of words. DMK leaders, including its ministers, are describing the Centre as “Ondriya Arasu” and not as “Maddhiya Arasu” or “Naduvan Arasu” as it used to be referred to in Tamil in the past. Many Tamil news channels have taken the cue and are using that expression. DMK leaders sought to justify the change, saying the correct expression should be “Ondriya Arasu” since the Tamil equivalent of Union is “Ondriyam”. But by doing so, the DMK has sought to equate the Centre with a Panchayat Union. In Tamil Nadu, the word “Ondriyam” is associated with Panchayat Union.

This reclassification occurred after the outburst of state finance minister Palanivel Thiagarajan after his GST Council meet when he had objected to big states such as Tamil Nadu being treated on a par with smaller ones like Goa and Manipur. He reminded the Centre that it cannot dilute the federal nature of the Constitution as India was only a Union of States and the government in Delhi was merely a presiding entity. And in his Tamil statement he dubbed the Centre as “Ondriya Arasu”, moving between an angry attack and a mocking tone.

It was ironic that Stalin had to hand a wish list to the head of the “Ondriya Arasu” to meet the needs of the state. The CM needs the Centre’s economic assistance, especially clearing the GST dues of over Rs 15,000 crore if he had to roll out his election promise of monthly allowance of Rs 1,000 to housewives and reducing VAT on petrol. Also, he needs the Centre’s nod to take control of an idle vaccine factory near Chennai to make Covid shots.

DMK watchers say when the new government’s primary task has to be firefighting the second wave of Covid, polemics over how the Centre should be addressed was a needless distraction, especially after Stalin made an earnest beginning from appointing competent officers in key posts and leading from the front in fighting the pandemic. When his government distributed special ration as Covid relief he made sure only the state government logo featured on the package, not his photo. “While Stalin has shown commendable maturity during his first month as CM, he must rein in some of his loose-tongued ministers. Politically he may be on the opposite side of the BJP, but that party has another three years to rule from Delhi. So a confrontationist approach will not serve the interests of Tamil Nadu,” suggests writer Maalan.

DMK supporters such as D. Ravikumar, a Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi parliamentarian, argue that the “Ondriya Arasu” reference was to remind the rulers in Delhi, states and the people that India is a federal structure and the state’s powers cannot be usurped by the Union government. But the BJP is quick to remind who’s boss. “Just by juggling the name of the central government the DMK sought to give an impression that it has rediscovered Tamil pride and state autonomy. Nothing could be more foolish since under the Constitution states were created only by the Union government for administrative convenience and not the other way round. New states like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand and Telangana were created by the Centre. Just by affixing a new Tamil equivalent for the Centre, the DMK cannot distort the true constitutional narrative,” observes BJP spokesperson T. Narayanan.

By G.C. Shekhar in Chennai