Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam: Tiding over 2G crisis

The Supreme Court's order clearing finance minister P Chidambaram of allegations of colluding with then telecom minister A Raja in the 2G scam has given fresh hope to the DMK, which now sees few reasons for quarrelling with the Congress. Shekhar Iyer reports.

The Supreme Court's order clearing finance minister P Chidambaram of allegations of colluding with then telecom minister A Raja in the 2G scam has given fresh hope to the DMK, which now sees few reasons for quarrelling with the Congress.

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At present, the UPA ally expects the Congress to revise its strategy vis-à-vis the 2G scam probe, considering that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is facing the heat in the coal block allocation row.

The DMK believes that the Congress will ultimately work towards obtaining relief for its leaders in court, and also free the DMK of taint before the 2014 polls. It also hopes that Raja, who had to resign in the wake of the CAG report reporting Rs 1.26 lakh crore loss in the spectrum issue, will argue for his innocence in allocating air waves – citing the apex court's verdict in favour of Chidambaram.

The court had found that Chidambaram's interaction with Raja in the decision-making process was "not used for pecuniary advantage for himself or other persons, including Raja".

Barring the 2G issue, the DMK has had no serious confrontation with the Congress. It has been more concerned about securing relief for the Karunanidhi family in the aftermath of the 2G issue, which saw DMK chief's daughter Kanimozhi spending five months in Tihar Jail last year.

An upbeat former Union minister TR Baalu, who has emerged as Karunanidhi's pointsman, is hopeful of returning to the cabinet during the reshuffle expected next month. Baalu has been a vocal supporter of the Congress in Parliament and outside. At the first meeting of the UPA coordination committee, Baalu was at the forefront in countering the BJP's offensive against the PM in the "coalgate" issue.