Senior Congress leaders told MiD DAY that it's unlikely their southern ally would leave the UPA due to differences over three assembly seats
Senior Congress leaders told MiD DAY that it's unlikely their southern ally would leave the UPA due to differences over three assembly seats
Despite Sunday being a holiday, politicians in Delhi belonging to all parties were engaged in hectic activity in the backdrop of the Congress-DMK deadlock further increasing. Though Congress did not come out with an official statement, senior party leaders said, they are hopeful that solution will be found within the next 24 hours.
"Toppling the government at the Centre, that too for three seats in a state assembly, is unlikely to happen. One wouldn't be surprised if DMK ministers do not resign on Monday," said a senior party leader.u00a0 
Pointing fingers? Manmohan and Karunanidhi met in Chennai in
January to clear the air on ties between the two UPA allies.
File Pic
Congress General Secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad, in-charge of party affairs in Tamil Nadu, on Sunday night met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and discussed the situation in the state in the wake of DMK's decision to pull out of the UPA government. During the two-hour meeting, the developments in Tamil Nadu and the party's strategy to deal with it were discussed by the two leaders.
The two leaders will meet Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday and brief them about the situation in Tamil Nadu.
Asked about the possibility of Congress-DMK alliance survival, party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi, however, said: "We certainly do not subscribe to pessimistic or doomsday scenario." Sources in Congress indicated that the party would not take any initiative on its own right now to woo the DMK which had taken the unilateral decision to opt out of the central government in the middle of negotiations.
Senior Congress leaders believe that the DMK's decision to withdraw its ministers from the government seems not to have happened because of deadlock over seat sharing only. "It seems to be a fallout of CBI upping its ante on 2G scam and raided the premises of Kalaignar TV and could question Karunanidhi's family members. Also the move would send out a strong signal within the Karunanidhi family as well that the party chief was doing everything possible to save them from possible embarrassment," said a senior leader.u00a0
In the elections for 234 seats, the DMK had agreed to give 60 seats for Congress and was planning to contest in 122 seats on its own apart from giving over 50 seats to allies like PMK and some other smaller parties. The DMK has 18 MPs in the Lok Sabha.
There is a view in the Congress party that even if DMK withdraws support, it will not have a bearing on the survival of the government and, as such, giving in at this juncture makes no sense as it could "create fresh problems in future."
On the other hand, sources in DMK said, it appears that there is no chance of a patch-up with the Congress. There was some hardening of the stand in the party leadership on Sunday and they were not in a mood to even repeat their previous night's offer that they were prepared to consider a tie-up even at this stage if Congress confined its demand for 60 seats and gave up its condition that it would choose the constituencies it would contest.
DMK had surprised the Congress by announcing on Friday night that it was withdrawing from the government saying that Congress did not want it to continue in the alliance.
Mulayam's offer
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Sunday said "as of now" there was no threat to the government after DMK announced pullout of support. However, he declined to say whether his party has been invited by the Congress to join the central government that has been reduced to minority.
Speaking in Lucknow, the former chief minister said: "As of now, there is no threat to the central government."
Asked whether the Congress has invited the Samajwadi Party to join the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, he said: "Such a question is imaginary. Imaginary questions have no answer."
Kanimozhi to be quizzed?
The CBI is likely to summon DMK chief Karunanidhi's daughter and Rajay Sabha member Kanimozhi for questioning in connection with the 2G scam. A senior CBI official said that she would be questioned in the next couple of days about the Rs 214-crore loan forwarded by Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa to Kalaignar TV, which is owned by Kanimozhi's family.
"Her questioning is very important in the wake of the cash transfer between Kalaignar TV and Balwa's company. Her phone conversations with lobbyist Niira Radia too are under the scanner," the official said.
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