The speed with which the contentious telecom ministry was handed over to Mr Kapil Sibal has jolted the DMK. Many had believed that the Prime Minister would keep the portfolio as additional charge until the completion of the CBI probe and that, hopefully with Mr Raja’s name getting cleared, would get back the ministry.
Barely minutes before the announcement of Mr Sibal as IT minister, DMK parliamentary party leader T.R. Baalu, a former Union minister, was claiming before the TV cameras in Delhi that Mr Raja’s successor would be decided by party thalaivar.
Maintaining that Mr Sibal’s appointment was “a stopgap arrangement”, he said, “Our leader will take a decision on the successor after consultation with senior party leaders and then convey the name to the Prime Minister.” His colleague Kanimozhi too spoke in the same vein, saying that her father alone would decide on who the next IT minister would be.
Even the diehard optimist in the ruling party here now appears apprehensive that these super-fast twists and turns could be used by the Congress to its advantage during the seat-sharing negotiations for the coming Assembly elections.
While Ms Kanimozhi insisted that her party’s alliance with the Congress “is as strong as ever”, not many in the DMK share that optimism when addressing the future. Another matter of concern is the fate of its ex-minister when the ministry files get bared before the investigating agency and the Supreme Court.
“In hindsight, thalaivar could have prevented the present predicament if only he had used his awesome foresight and gave up Raja some months ago as that would have preserved his clout with ally Congress,” said a DMK minister, adding that filial sentiments appeared to have blinded the shrewd octogenarian to the dangerous and embarrassing turns that the spectrum steam would take.