Congress Undemocratic Ideology - 4

[ramana]

Telegraph take on Raja's ouster



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How DMK lost the game

G.C. SHEKHAR



New job calling? Kanimozhi outside Parliament on Monday. (PTI)



Chennai, Nov. 15: Lesson for the DMK from A. Raja’s exit: underestimating an ally can be as dangerous as underestimating an opponent.



The party and its leader M. Karunanidhi had never expected the Congress to outstare them over the spectrum scandal. After brazening it out for more than a week by refusing to pull Raja back from the ministry, the DMK suddenly found itself up against a determined Congress and blinked.



The southern party received one more snub today. Within hours of its parliamentary party leader T.R. Baalu asserting the telecom portfolio must remain with the DMK, the Congress handed it to human resource development minister Kapil Sibal.



Also, by entrusting the ministry to a lawyer, the Congress has let its ally know that it wants to keep a strict watch on the spectrum case and, thus, a tight leash on the DMK.



“When (Union home minister) P. Chidambaram met Karunanidhi after Diwali and requested that Raja resign, the DMK boss threatened that all his ministers would quit the central government if Raja had to go,” a Congress MP from Tamil Nadu said.



“But once Jayalalithaa made her offer, apparently at the suggestion of a senior Congress leader in Delhi, the Congress leveraged it to prise out Raja.” <img src='http://www.india-forum.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />



When the Congress spurned Jayalalithaa’s offer by reaffirming its alliance with the DMK, Karunanidhi had apparently taken it as a signal that Raja would continue. But once the Prime Minister declared that the alliance with the DMK continued “as of now”, and that it was for the Congress leadership to take note of Jayalalithaa’s offer, the DMK sensed that its ally had toughened its stance.



Still, the party tried to shore up Raja’s position. Karunanidhi came out in open support of the minister and his daughter and MP, Kanimozhi, pleaded with finance minister Pranab Mukherjee at Parliament House.



The telecom department filed a counter in the Supreme Court defending Raja’s actions, and the minister’s lawyers even participated in a brainstorming session with CBI officers. <img src='http://www.india-forum.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /> Raja himself gave a lengthy interview to a newspaper, accusing a powerful telecom lobby of orchestrating the campaign against him.



Tamil Nadu law minister Durai Murugam flew to Delhi to explore if the legal fire could be doused and the Supreme Court persuaded to tone down its comments against Raja. He returned empty-handed.



Once the Prime Minister had made up his mind, Mukherjee called Karunanidhi on Sunday morning to convey the Congress’s decision. The chief minister apparently promised to get back to him.



When he did not, it was Chidambaram’s turn to tell the DMK boss that Raja’s exit would help the alliance during the Assembly elections. It was a clear hint that the future of the alliance hinged on the Raja issue. That clinched it.



The episode amounts to a loss of face for the DMK. “Had Raja resigned (earlier)... our party’s image would not have been tarnished like now. Instead, we lived in a state of denial which closed all the options,” a DMK minister admitted.

So essentially the DMK was told there is Jaya in INC's future.



Too bad for TN that they have to suffer with three scoundrels: INC, DMK and AIDMK.