New Delhi:
The Rajya Sabha elections, scheduled for next month, are forging new alliances in Tamil Nadu.
DMK parliamentary leader T R Baalu today met Congress president Sonia Gandhi to formally seek the support of the Congress for their leader Kanimozhi.
The move assumes significance as it is the first meeting between the two parties since the DMK formally withdrew support to the UPA government in March this year.
The DMK, headed by M Karunanidhi, finds itself struggling for partners to get Kanimozhi, the 45-year-old daughter of its president, re-elected. Her term expires next month.
The party had been hoping to win the support of legislators from the DMDK, headed by actor-politician Vijayakanth, which fielded its own candidate on Monday.
The Congress can offer five state legislators in the 235-member Assembly but it is seen as an unpalatable ally by most parties in the state because of the perception that the Centre led by it had not taken a strong enough stand against Sri Lanka's alleged war crimes at the United Nations session in Geneva earlier this year.
The DMK, which has 23 legislators, need 11 more to ensure a second term for Kanimozhi.
The Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam or MMK today offered support to the DMK. The party has two MLAs. MMK had fought assembly elections with the ruling AIADMK and fell out later. "The AIADMK and Left parties have enough numbers for their candidates. We don't want to waste our votes," said MMK general secretary, Prof Jawaharullah.
The math in the Rajya Sabha elections has parties worried about horse-trading. The emerging voting pattern in these elections could also indicate the political re-alignment in Tamil Nadu for the national elections due by May.