Tamil Nadu chief minister and DMK supremo M. Karunanidhi is seething with anger that the Congress leadership let him down in the hour of crisis in the 2G spectrum scam, but his immediate family is urging him to keep his cool and not take any precipitate action in retaliation.
Mr Karunanidhi’s elder son, Union minister M.K. Alagiri, has been asking him to calm down since the case against Kanimozhi, Mr Karunanidhi’s daughter and a DMK Rajya Sabha MP who has been charged in the 2G scam, can be fought in the courts. He also argued that the blow was not all that much near home as his mother Dayalu Ammal was not indicted by the CBI, which merely named her as a witness in the case. His brother, Tamil Nadu deputy chief minister M.K. Stalin, is also not in favour of creating a “political turmoil”, and other senior party leaders agree that there would be little purpose in walking out of the UPA or withdrawing from the Union government.
The octogenarian leader’s anger has not come down one whit even a day after the news broke that Ms Kanimozhi’s name figured in the 2G spectrum chargesheet, sources said. They added he could not stomach this after several messages were passed through a senior emissary who met Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The DMK patriarch has been closeted with senior advocates, ministers, party lieutenants and well-wishers after news of the chargesheet broke. Mr Karunanidhi, who is said to be feeling humiliated, is said to be insisting that the DMK pull out its ministers from the Centre since his “self-respect” party cannot continue to hobnob with the “unhelpful” Congress, party insiders say.
But none of his lieutenants are in favour of this, at a time when they are anxiously waiting for the results of the Tamil Nadu Assembly polls, to be announced on May 13. “Thalaivar (leader) has taken several crucial decisions in anger in the past, but this time it is not easy to take such an extreme step. We have to tread cautiously keeping in mind long-term consequences,” said a senior minister.
A high-level DMK committee meeting on Wednesday will only vent the party’s anger while reiterating its stand that the `214-crore Kalaignar TV transaction was only a loan and “mere naming in the chargesheet would not make Kanimozhi guilty”, sources said.
The DMK lost in its game of brinkmanship last month when its ministers at the Centre, who flew to New Delhi to submit their resignations, later claimed it was a triumph despite conceding almost all demands of the Congress in seat-sharing in the Assembly polls, including giving that party 63 seats.