2009 Poll Prospects And Alignments-2

[Capt M Kumar]

Sources here said the PMK had accepted the AIADMK's offer of seven Lok Sabha seats and support for a Rajya Sabha nomination for A Ramadoss in the next biennial polls. The party's ties with the DMK had reached a point of no return as bitterness between their cadres and mutual distrust at the leadership level was high, sources said.

Congress has not given up trying to keep the PMK in its fold with sources saying that it was going to hold one more round of talks with the PMK leadership in a desperate bid to keep the Vanniyar outfit inside the UPA tent.

The party's anxiety to keep the PMK from switching camps came off clearly when Sonia Gandhi was asked to comment on the possibility of loss of another ally after the collapse of the UPA in Bihar. "As of now there is no change," she said, the remark reflecting the party's fear as well as the flickering hope.

But M Karunanidhi, the lead player in the TN alliance, had already given up on the Vanniyar outfit. Hours after Anbumani's meeting with Patel, the DMK chief lashed out at PMK founder S Ramadoss for the first time in several months, in what could defeat Congress's hopes of saving the alliance.

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