At the centre, the top Congress leaders are in no mood to extricate the DMK from the present troubles, particularly the corruption charges.
Exactly 12 hours after he shocked the Congress leadership with his statement that the DMK would fight the coming local body elections without any alliance, party chief M Karunanidhi said his ties with Congress is safe and strong.
"The DMK will fight the next Lok Sabha and assembly elections in alliance with the Congress. We decided to go it alone in the civic elections because it is fought on local issues," Karunanidhi told reporters at his party headquarters in Chennai.
His Wednesday statement which coincided with the 103rd birth anniversary of party founder late CN Annadurai shocked some of the Congress leaders in the state. "This is an indication of the DMK distancing itself from the Congress," said N Kalyanasundaram, a specialist in DMK and Congress in the state.
But Cho Ramaswamy, a political columnist, did not attach any significance to the DMK move. "The DMK will never withdraw support to the UPA government in the Centre. Karunanidhi wants the help of Congress and he will not do anything to upset the ties. Civic elections are not an important issue," he said.
It is a known fact that the Congress is only an added weight on the shoulders of the DMK in Tamil Nadu, while at the centre it is clear the top leaders of the Congress are in no mood to extricate the DMK from the present troubles, particularly the corruption charges.
One leader who is more than happy from this announcement is EVKS Elangovan, former TNCC president. "We are thankful to Karunanidhi for the announcement because hereafter we are no more his crutches. The civic elections will see Congress on one side and all anti India forces, especially the supporters of Rajiv Gandhi killers on the other side," he said.
According to Kalyanasundaram, leaders other than Elangovan received Karunanidhi's statement on Wednesday with a shock. "They depend more on the DMK for their political survival than on the Congress party itself," he said.
Now that the DMK has clearly started distancing itself from the Congress, the only goal open to it is to shake hands with the PMK which has also been facing the same predicament of being "left alone" in the political scene of Tamil Nadu.
"But we have to wait and see as PMK has been demanding waiver of death penalty to Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan, the three assassins of Rajeev Gandhi. So virtually the Congress in Tamil Nadu is left alone to fend for itself and its leadership is groping in the dark," said Kalyanasundaram.
TKS Elangovan, the DMK spokesman, earlier said that the party would go alone in local body elections. "This is a separate issue and we would like to fight it all alone. You need not give much significance to this decision," he said.
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