Congress-DMK alliance likely to be affected

Officially, the Congress has been maintaining that the alliance is intact, but the arrest of former telecom minister A Raja, Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi and the phone call of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to Jayalalitha after the alliance was routed in assembly polls indicates that Congress might think to free itself from DMK and arrive at an agreement with the AIADMK.

“The coalition remains as before,” said Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi answering questions on the fate of the alliance after the verdict. However, the Congress distanced itself from any speculation of helping DMK and said that the party will have to fight its legal battle.

It is assumed that  the Congress was sinking with the DMK after the 2G scam was unearthed. However, the Congress faces a tougher call. With Assembly elections scheduled in various states next year, the Congress, to project a clean image, can take jump to Jayalalitha’s camp. But, the DMK has nowhere to go.

So, at the moment, the DMK, already jolted after massive defeat in Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, may prefer to stay in the alliance and continue its support to the UPA at the Centre, even as the Congress may prefer to be free of it.

Notably, Kanimozhi and Kalaignar TV chief Sharad Kumar, named co-conspirators in the 2G spectrum allocation controversy, were taken into custody after a special CBI court rejected their bail pleas.

The CBI had named Kanimozhi and Sharad Kumar in its April 25 charge sheet after it found an illegal money trail of Rs 214 crore in the spectrum allocation irregularities.  Former telecom minister A Raja of the DMK is already in jail for allegedly manipulating procedures to allocate 2G spectrum.