7 Ministers, why is DMK whining? The answer is Amma

Until a few days ago, the DMK sat on top of the moral high ground and said it wasn’t even going to join the government. Now, with seven...

Until a few days ago, the DMK sat on top of the moral high ground and said it wasn’t even going to join the government. Now, with seven Ministries in its bag, it’s sulking for more, jostling for clout. So much so that the DMK’s newly appointed ministers got orders to boycott office—and to continue the boycott—until their party was given more ministries.

DMK supremo M Karunanidhi claimed that the Congress was backtracking on promises it had made. But even as the posturing continued through the day, it became clear that the DMK wanted the extra charge not just to widen its authority but also to settle scores with its old nemesis Jayalalithaa.

Apart from the portfolios that it already has, the DMK wants Shipping and Highways added to the Surface Transport Ministry given to T R Baalu. It wants the Personnel department added to the charge of Minister of State for Home Affairs S Reghupathy.

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But more significantly, it wants the Revenue department to come under the wing of Minister of State for Commerce S Palanimanikam. ‘‘The stability of the Government will not be affected,’’ said Karunanidhi, while holding out for what he said was promised to him. But there are unstated political reasons.

With the Revenue department under its control, the DMK can speed up the cases pending against Jayalalithaa and her close friend Sasikala for allegedly defaulting on filing income tax returns between 1992 and 1994.

The CBI is also looking into $300,000 being deposited in Jayalalithaa’s account when she was chief minister between 1991 and 1996.

Another case against Jayalalithaa, of accumulating some Rs 65 crore of wealth, disproportionate to her known sources of income, is also coming up. The DMK seems determined not to relent on this score.

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On the question of the Revenue portfolio staying with Finance, Karunanidhi said some people were giving wrong advice to the Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi. ‘‘It is a secret,’’ he said when asked who they were.

‘‘What was agreed upon after eight days of consultation was not respected,’’ said Karunanidhi, who spoke to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on phone.

Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, the Congress pointman handling the negotiations, said that his party might consider giving one more portfolio to the DMK ministers ‘‘but there would not be more DMK ministers’’. Ironically, the Congress had to rope in N Janardhan Reddy, former Andhra Pradesh chief minister, to reach out to the DMK today. Reddy himself is unhappy over not getting a Cabinet berth and it was he who had made the original promises to the DMK.

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