{"id":1937,"date":"2006-07-07T20:11:00","date_gmt":"2006-07-07T20:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/2006\/07\/why-indian-pm-quiet-over-aiims-inside-story\/"},"modified":"2006-07-07T20:11:00","modified_gmt":"2006-07-07T20:11:00","slug":"why-indian-pm-quiet-over-aiims-inside-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/2006\/07\/why-indian-pm-quiet-over-aiims-inside-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Why is the Indian PM Quiet over AIIMS: The Inside Story!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

Finally you get a piece<\/a> that tells us why Dr. Singh \u2013 the Indian PM \u2013 is quiet over the entire Ramadoss vs Venugopal case. One, Ramadoss is a strong PMK honcho \u2013 a strong ally for Congress\u2019 coalition Government. Two, he is well connected with DMK \u2013 strong party in Tamil nadu. Three, PM feels Venugopal did not do enough to stop the stir against the reservations. Well, if anything my respect for Dr. Singh has gone down over these two issues \u2013 reservations and AIIMS.<\/p>\n

\n

Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss may have earned the wrath of the medical community with his sacking of one of India\u2019s best heart surgeons as head of the country\u2019s prestigious AIIMS hospital, but the powers that be were unhappy with his handling of the medicos\u2019 strike over the quotas issue.<\/p>\n

Congress leaders swear that both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party president Sonia Gandhi were \u201cvery upset\u201d over All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) director P Venugopal\u2019s perceived attempts to encourage the 14-day strike over a month ago against caste-based quotas in institutions of higher education.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth leaders were disappointed that Venugopal did not do anything to end the strike despite repeated pleas and assurances from the government,\u201d a Congress leader said on condition of anonymity. \u201cMany in the government feel that Venugopal was solely responsible for the strike.\u201d<\/p>\n

Political analysts and party sources insist that Manmohan Singh was maintaining silence over the ouster of Venguopal from the AIIMS due to his unwillingness to interfere in a cabinet minister\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n

In this particular case, any veto by Manmohan Singh would have also led to taking on an ally, the PMK, which while holding just six seats in parliament has a close relationship with Tamil Nadu\u2019s ruling party DMK.<\/p>\n

The PMK draws its main strength from the Vanniyar community, which accounts for some 20 per cent of Tamil Nadu\u2019s 60 million people and populates mainly the state\u2019s northern belt.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is true that the PMK has a considerable hold over the Vanniyars. But I don\u2019t think it was his political clout that helped him to dismiss Venugopal,\u201d senior Congress leader Era Anbarasu said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe the Congress and the government feel that he (Ramadoss) took the right decision,\u201d Anbarasu said.<\/p>\n

Political analysts, however, did ascribe coalition pressures as one of the key reasons the prime minister has remained silent, publicly at least, in the battle between Ramadoss and Venugopal, leading to the latter\u2019s unceremonious sacking on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

A political observer N Bhaskara Rao said, \u201cThe prime minister seems to be thinking: \u2018Why should I burn my fingers? Let the Supreme Court decide.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter Thursday\u2019s developments (when the DMK threatened to pull out of government over New Delhi\u2019s decision to offload its shares in two state-owned companies), he is not likely to take any steps that may disturb the United Progressive Alliance (UPA),\u201d Rao said. \u201cIt\u2019s petty politics against national interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Ramadoss is indeed politically well connected.<\/p>\n

Besides being the son of doctor-turned-PMK founder S Ramadoss, who shares a good rapport with DMK chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, his father-in-law M Krishnaswami is the state Congress president.<\/p>\n

Congress sources pointed out that it was Karunanidhi\u2019s close ties with Sonia Gandhi that helped Krishnaswami bag the post. Anbumani Ramadoss\u2019 wife Sowmiya, a good orator, heads the women\u2019s wing of PMK.<\/p>\n

According to political sources, the Congress is in no mood to rub the PMK the wrong way as sections of the party still nurse dreams of mending their fences one day with former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalitha\u2019s AIADMK, using the PMK as a go between.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese Congress leaders feel that it is the AIADMK, PMK, MDMK and a few smaller parties that are their natural allies in Tamil Nadu, and not the DMK,\u201d said one Congress leader.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo why should the Congress leadership support a (hospital) official at the cost of a natural ally?\u201d<\/p>\n

The PMK\u2019s influence over voters in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, however, is a matter of debate. The PMK contested 31 seats and won just 17 during the May elections to the 234-member Tamil Nadu assembly, that too with help from the DMK and the Congress.<\/p>\n

Until the PMK emerged as a political force in Tamil Nadu, the Congress used to command considerable Vanniyar votes. Although the PMK drew a blank in the 1989 Lok Sabha elections, it won one seat in 1991 and the number went up to four in 1996.<\/p>\n

It won the same number of seats in 1998, when it forged an alliance with the AIADMK, and five seats in the 1999 Lok Sabha poll. In 2004, this increased to six. The PMK has, however, fared poorly in Pondicherry, which remains a Congress bastion despite the considerable numerical strength of the Vanniyar community.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>The Regional Roots of Developmental Politics in India: A Divided Leviathan<\/a><\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a> Title: The Ruling Caste : Imperial Lives in the Victorian Raj
Asin: 0374283540
Author: David Gilmour
ISBN: 0374283540<\/p>\n

<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n
\n Technorati<\/span> : Ramadoss<\/a>, Venugopal<\/a><\/span>
Del.icio.us<\/span> : Ramadoss<\/a>, Venugopal<\/a><\/span>
Ice Rocket<\/span> : Ramadoss<\/a>, Venugopal<\/a><\/span>
Flickr<\/span> : Ramadoss<\/a>, Venugopal<\/a><\/span>
Buzznet<\/span> : Ramadoss<\/a>, Venugopal<\/a><\/span>
43 Things<\/span> : Ramadoss<\/a>, Venugopal<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

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\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

Finally you get a piece<\/a> that tells us why Dr. Singh – the Indian PM – is quiet over the entire Ramadoss vs Venugopal case. One, Ramadoss is a strong PMK honcho – a strong ally for Congress’ coalition Government. Two, he is well connected with DMK – strong party in Tamil nadu. Three, PM feels Venugopal did not do enough to stop the stir against the reservations. Well, if anything my respect for Dr. Singh has gone down over these two issues – reservations and AIIMS.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1517,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,29,33,57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education","category-health__medicine","category-india","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy is the Indian PM Quiet over AIIMS: The Inside Story!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Finally you get a piece that tells us why Dr. Singh - the Indian PM - is quiet over the entire Ramadoss vs Venugopal case. One, Ramadoss is a strong PMK honcho - a strong ally for Congress' coalition Government. Two, he is well connected with DMK - strong party in Tamil nadu. Three, PM feels Venugopal did not do enough to stop the stir against the reservations. 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