Let bygones be bygones, DMK told

Karunanidhi said today8217;s meeting would culminate on a happy note at the party8217;s executive meeting and general council, which will take a final decision on the alliance issue.

Asked to spell out the party8217;s stand vis-a-vis the BJP clearly, the Chief Minister quipped: 8220;You can draw a larger meaning from small words, too.8221;

In a dramatic volte face, the TRC chief, who had not long ago levelled allegations against the DMK Government, today said that8220;he would forget as a bad dream8221;, the litany ofcharges he had made against the Chief Minister.

When the media drew Karunanidhi8217;s attention to the MGR-ADMK chief S Thirunavukkarasu8217;s press conference, indicating his inclination to join the DMK-led front, Karunanidhi said that the party was already in alliance with the DMK.

Earlier in the day, the executive committee of the TRC reaffirmed the continuance of its electoral ties with the BJP and 8220;whole-heartedly welcomed8221; the DMK8217;s prospective alliance with the BJP.

8220;If the DMK prefers to go with the BJP, we will whole-heartedly welcome it,8221; the executive committee which met in Chennai declared in a resolution.

Briefing mediapersons, Ramamurthy said,8220;TRC is with the BJP and will continue to be with the BJP.8221;

He hoped that the PMK would continue in the BJP Front. Asked if seat-sharing, which proved to be a contentious issue in the past, would hamper a DMK-TRC alliance, Ramamurthy quipped: 8220;Why talk of babies even before the wedding?8221;

However, he said talks were on regarding a BJP-DMKalliance which could win 38 out of 40 seats in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry. On the two shaky seats, he remarked jovially: 8220;If I disclose it, I will be saddled with those two seats.8221;

8220;The TMC has already missed the bus,8221; he replied to a query on the possibility of a patch-up between the TMC and the DMK. According to him, the TMC8217;s decision to vote against the Vajpayee Government, 8220;whether on the advice of Sonia Gandhi or not8221;, has ended the party8217;s ties with the DMK.

He predicted that Moopanar would mend fences with Jayalalitha. According to him, Jayalalitha has been politically isolated in Tamil Nadu, though at the national level, she still had some friends in Sonia Gandhi and Mayawati.

Jayalalitha had pulled down the Vajpayee Government because she thought she was a candidate for Prime Minister.

8220;But Delhi is full of monuments. She did not realise that,8221; he said. He described her attempts at installing a new Government as a 8220;story of failure8221;.

On whether Jayalalitha pressurised the BJP-ledGovernment on the dismissal of the DMK Government, Ramamurthy matter-of-factly remarked: 8220;I also demanded the dismissal.8221;

On the possibility of a Third Front in Tamil Nadu, he said the front would end up like the beggar on the streets. 8220;I floated a front in 1996 and have learnt enough lessons,8221; he said.

Ramamurthy will throw his hat into the electoral ring for the ninth time, but is not sure of contesting from the Salem constituency.