New Delhi/Chennai:
After a morning brimming with speculation, phone calls and political footsie, the Congress and the DMK still haven't kissed and made up. A spokesperson for the DMK said, "The status quo continues." Which means the Hum Aapke Hain Kaun drama - much like the movie - will not head to a climax without testing patience and wills.
What's driving the partners apart is how many seats the Congress should be allowed to contest in the Tamil Nadu elections, scheduled for April 13. The Congress said it wanted 63, three more than the DMK was willing to part with. So over the weekend, the DMK, sounding like a jilted lover, said the party would quit the UPA government at the Centre, where it has 18 MPs and six union ministers. In Tamil Nadu, it is in power with the support of the Congress, which has said that if the alliance wins the state elections, the Congress will need to be included in the government.
On Saturday night, after talks broke down, DMK leaders said "It appears the Congress wants us out" and waited for the Congress to jump to attention. That never happened. So the DMK got more aggressive and announced that its ministers would fly into Delhi yesterday to hand their resignation letters to the Prime Minister. That's when Pranab Mukherjee intervened yesterday on behalf of the Congress, and met with DMK leader Dayanidhi Maran. The DMK announced its resignations were on hold and that the Congress had asked for a day to reconsider its needs. Last night, Sonia Gandhi met with Mr Maran and MK Alagiri, whose father is DMK chief M Karunanidhi.
This morning, the two DMK representatives briefed Mr Karunanidhi over the phone and he is now reviewing the negotiations. Both parties had earlier indicated that they were likely to take a final call on whether to stay together by the end of today. In a sign that the marriage may be saved, Mr Karunanidhi's daughter, Kanimozhi, after arriving in Delhi said, "I am hopeful." Sources in the Tamil Nadu Congress say that both sides may agree to 61 seats for the Congress, but the party's senior leaders in Delhi say a compromise has not been tethered.
Divorce over 2G scam?While the Congress and the DMK argue publicly over seats, sources say the real cause for the break-up is the DMK's entanglement with the 2G spectrum scam. One of the DMKs main men, A Raja, who was Telecom Minister, has been arrested for siring the scam, which saw valuable frequency being given at throwaway prices to private companies.
A Rs 214-crore kickback from the scam was allegedly routed to a TV station in Chennai that's owned largely by Mr Karunanidhi's wife, and his daughter Kanimozhi, who is an MP and a close associate of Mr Raja's. The CBI, in charge of investigating the scam, has raided the homes and offices of people closely associated with Kanimozhi, and she is expected to be questioned in the next few weeks by the CBI.
The DMK is getting increasingly uncomfortable with the inquiry and what it might throw up. The Congress, on the other hand, is suggested to be wary of asking for votes with a political partner whose senior members seem tarnished by corruption.