Karuna may not go against Cong

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Sikh devotees at Amritsar railway station on Sunday before leaving for Pakistan to celebrate the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak

Despite serious differences with the Congress on a host of issues, the DMK doesn’t seem inclined to embarrass its ally over the issue of FDI in multi-brand retail.
According to sources in the DMK, if the government finally gives into the Opposition demand for a discussion on the matter under rule 184, which entails voting, DMK would either abstain from voting or stage a walkout thereby helping the Congress in the process.
DMK chief M. Karunanidhi has been steadfastly maintaining in public that the party would take a stand on the issue keeping in mind the interests of the small and medium retail traders and after consultations with Parliamentary party members.
The octogenarian has refused to reveal how his party would react when the issue comes up for discussion in Parliament. DMK has a strength of 18 MPs in the Lok Sabha which makes it the second largest party in the alliance after the exit of TMC.
Of late both the DMK and the Congress have not been on good terms with issues like training for Sri Lankan army personnel in India and the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh’s adviser T.K.S. Nair calling on Ms Jayalalithaa apparently to discuss infrastructure related projects and the over all unfriendly attitude irking the DMK and the Congress disappointed with its southern ally over its TESO resolutions and their submission at the United Nations and not coming fully on board over the Kudankulam nuclear plant issue.
Sources say that with the DMK not in power in the state and with general elections likely only in 2014 the possibility of DMK breaking ties with the grand old party immediately does not arise, despite serious hiccups. And a stand against the government on FDI would unnecessarily precipitate matters to the detriment of the DMK, sources added.