It's been a hectic morning for both parties. After a meeting with Sonia Gandhi last night in Delhi, senior DMK leaders briefed their chief, M Karunanidhi, who is likely to give his feedback on the negotiations in the next few hours. In a sign that the marriage may be saved, Mr Karunanidhi's daughter, Kanimozhi, is heading to Delhi from Chennai.
The DMK had initially drawn the line at 60 seats for the Congress, which said nothing less than 63 was acceptable. The Congress also said it wanted to participate in the government if the alliance wins the election (in the current arrangement, the DMK is in power with support from the Congress). Both sides have this morning reportedly agreed to bridge the gap at 61 seats.
The bluster has been high-volume since Saturday night, when the DMK announced that it was dropping out of the UPA coalition at the Centre over the battle with the Congress in Tamil Nadu. The DMK has 18 MPs and six ministers in the Centre, which give the party considerable clout. So after its ultimatum, the DMK waited for the Congress to coax and cajole it to change its mind - that never happened. Yesterday, DMK leaders like Mr Karunanidhi's son, MK Alagiri, who is a union minister, said all six ministers of the DMK would hand in their resignations to the PM.
Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee then staged an intervention last afternoon, meeting Mr Karunanidhi's nephew, Dayanidhi Maran. By the evening, the DMK ministers recalled the decision to resign, stating that the Congress had asked for another day. Last night, Mr Maran and Mr Alagiri met Sonia Gandhi, but sources say the talks ended without a break-through. This morning, the DMK chief was briefed on those talks and he said he would hold a new round of discussions with senior DMK leaders in Chennai.
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.
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