Even Indian political analysts call the run-up to their General Elections the "silly season" considering the things their politicians say on the campaign trail.

While one must marvel at witnessing 700 million people elect a Government of their choice, one is left to ponder whether they really vote for a Government in New Delhi or just someone from their caste or region. Nowhere is it better said that they don't cast their vote, but vote for their caste. For Sri Lanka - it is the politics or the 'poli-tricks' of the southern state of Tamil Nadu that would have real significance - second only to who would eventually form the Government at the Centre by next weekend. For quite some time now, political developments in Tamil Nadu have impacted on Sri Lanka by its application of pressure vertically on New Delhi, and then its reflection laterally on Colombo.

The blame for the LTTE insurgency can squarely be placed at the doorstep of New Delhi during Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's tenure of office. It was her acquiescence to the geo-political machinations of its external intelligence agency RAW soon after she regained the premiership from the Morarji Desai Government - that saw the destabilization of all India's neighbours so that India would remain stable.

This foreign policy strategy only led to India being despised by all its neighbours not just traditional enemies like Pakistan and China, but also Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. That was Mrs. Gandhi's legacy. And it was Tamil Nadu's politicians who provided succour to the separatist insurgency in its infancy. Even then, it was a case of politicians competing to fund, arm, train and provide a safe haven for the LTTE. It was MGR (M.G. Ramachandran, the Sri Lanka- born Malayalee actor turned Chief Minister) and M. Karunanidhi, the current Chief Minister who vied for the hand of the LTTE leader.

Now, it is MGR's successor Jayalalitha Jayaram, Karunanidhi and a host of newcomers who continue to hitch their political stars to the communal wagon, notwithstanding the fact that Ms. Gandhi's son, Rajiv was murdered on Tamil Nadu soil by the LTTE. The LTTE also decimated the entire leadership of the pro-separatist group, the EPRLF on Tamil Nadu soil as well as the leadership of yet another pro-separatist group, TELO in North Sri Lanka, murdered the leader of the PLOTE, the leaders of the TULF and attempted to murder the leadership of a once pro-separatist group, the EPDP. Tamil moderate politicians have also been murdered and thousands of Tamil civilians whom they claim to protect have been killed, wounded, rendered homeless and subjected to untold suffering. Should not these Tamil Nadu politicians take their share of the blame for all this?

For nearly three decades they have fuelled this insurgency with their lip-service. Indeed they have offered a sanctuary to thousands who have fled the fighting in Sri Lanka and the forced conscriptions of children by the LTTE. But some of these Tamils are on record as telling the Indian media that they would "prefer to die in Sri Lanka than live like they do in Tamil Nadu'. The winner of the 'Most Outrageous Statement' contest these past few weeks should clearly be Opposition leader Jayalalitha Jayaram, who has promised to get 'Eelam' for the Tamils. Under fire from her political opponents, she was quick to clarify that this Eelam would be in Sri Lanka. So much for good neighbourliness and Jawaharlal Nehru's doctrine of Pancha-seela. There was no statesman or stateswoman who had the conrage to say, "No, you can't even say you are calling for the break-up of another country". Except for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who feebly said yesterday “it is difficult to send the Army to a sovereign country”.

Still, Jayalalitha may be the best of the bad lot as far as Sri Lanka is concerned, because her natural antipathy for the LTTE is well-known and her public posturing can be put down to an 'election-gundu'. Mr. Karunanidhi needs to be relegated into the dustbin of political history. In today's Indian politics, the Government in New Delhi is indebted to regional parties for its survival and that real-politik needs to be accepted by Colombo. It's a case of the junior partner ordering the senior around; a case of the tail wagging the head.

For this reason, Sri Lanka stands accused of having long failed to reach out to these tunnel-vision politicians of Tamil Nadu. The fact that successive Sri Lankan Governments, including the incumbent administration, have not reached out to Tamil Nadu has not helped our cause. It was only once that we upgraded our mission in Chennai by having a career diplomat of ambassadorial rank stationed there - but that too, because he volunteered. It would be to Sri Lanka's benefit if the Government placed more importance on Sri Lanka's relations with Tamil Nadu as well as other southern states, including Kerala, Karnataka and Andra Pradesh without limiting its dialogue to New Delhi. Sri Lanka's politicians have been as introspective as those in Tamil Nadu and one could only hope for a new beginning after next week's general elections in that State.