Anita Katyal
Tribune News ServiceNew Delhi, February 25
Already faced with the RJD’s ire, the Congress received another jolt today when one more dependable ally, DMK chief M. Karunanidhi, upped the ante by “recalling” his ministers to Chennai for a special review meeting on Sunday.
Mr Karunanidhi has taken umbrage to the derogatory and personal remarks made by Congress leader and Union minister of state E.V.K.S. Elangovan at a party meeting. To make matters worse, the former PCC chief leader, whose antipathy to the DMK is well-known, publicly declared that the DMK should be prepared to share power in the state just as the Congress had accommodate its Dravidian ally in the UPA.
While the Congress is fully prepared to deal with RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav’s outbursts, the DMK’s move today clearly took its leaders by surprise. Mr Yadav and his supporters have already launched a onslaught against senior Congress leaders Arjun Singh and M.L.Fotedar, handling the seat-sharing negotiations with the RJD.
A panic-stricken party rushed to initiate a quick damage-control exercise on the DMK front as Mrs Ambika Soni, AICC general secretary incharge of Tamil Nadu, and party spokesperson Anand Sharma repeatedly emphasised that a statement by an individual leader cannot be construed as a policy. Mrs Soni spoke to Union Telecommunications Minister Dayanidhi Maran and clarified matters with him.
“Only the Congress president and those authorised by the CWC can make policy pronouncements.. nobody else can,” Mr Sharma emphasised, adding that having contested the Lok Sabha elections as allies, the Congress hopes to sustain its relations with the DMK through the years.
The uncertainty over the Bihar and Jharkhand assembly results has added to tensions in the Congress. With the RJD chief already hurling abuses at its chief
negotiators, even referring to them as “expired medicine”, the Congress is not sure what awaits them after the poll results.
