Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is going to Chennai Friday night, will meet DMK supremo M. Karunanidhi on Saturday, and the two are expected to discuss a “possible replacement” for Dayanidhi Maran, who resigned from the Union Cabinet on Thursday after being named by the CBI in the 2G spectrum scam.
Sources said the two are also likely to discuss the existing political scenario. Mr Karunanidhi’s son M.K. Alagiri is now the only DMK representative in the Cabinet, though the party has four ministers of state — S.S. Palanimanickam, S. Jagatrakshakan, Gandhi-selvan and D. Napoleon. The only other DMK member of the Cabinet, A. Raja, also had to resign over the 2G scam and was later arrested, and is currently in jail.
Sources said that Mr Karunanidhi has indicated that he is “not too keen to discuss a Cabinet reshuffle or Maran’s replacement” at this point, and that his priority is to find a way to get his daughter Kanimozhi, a Rajya Sabha MP, out of Tihar Jail. She was taken into custody after being denied bail when charges were filed against her in connection with the 2G scam. Sources hinted that some top DMK leaders suspected Mr Maran’s hand in the trouble in which Mr Raja and Ms Kanimozhi found themselves.
Mr Karunanidhi’s attitude and the ongoing Telangana agitation have turned into stumbling blocks in the way of the proposed reshuffle of the Union council of ministers. The government wants to effect the reshuffle by July 15, ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament, which starts on August 1. “The new ministers will take at least 15 days to understand their ministries,” a senior Congress leader said. Mr Maran’s exit also makes it “somewhat urgent” for the government to go in for a reshuffle at the earliest.
In his talks with the DMK chief, Mr Mukherjee is also likely to explain the UPA’s position to him. Sources said, however, that the DMK was likely to take a view on the existing scenario only at its general council meeting in Coimbatore on July 23. Mr Mukherjee, who will be in Chennai to attend an official function, will meet the DMK chief sometime during the day on Saturday.
The sources added that as of now Mr Mukherjee was in favour of continuing the UPA’s alliance with the DMK, which has 18 MPs in the Lok Sabha. For a section of the Congress, an alliance with the DMK still appears to be a better option than one with the Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK. But everything will really depend on what decision the DMK takes at its crucial Coimbatore meeting on July 23.