Sethu affidavit puts Congress, DMK on collision course

With just a few days to go before the Sethusamundram case comes up for its next hearing in the Supreme Court...

With just a few days to go before the Sethusamundram case comes up for its next hearing in the Supreme Court, Congress and its ally DMK seem to be heading for a confrontation over the line to be taken in the Centre8217;s affidavit in the case.

Unable to reach any consensus due to the divergent views of the two parties on the issue, the Government is said to be mulling whether to seek more time from the apex court for filing its affidavit, Congress sources said.

Any such move is likely to bring the Congress in direct confrontation with the DMK, which is not just in favour of going ahead with filing the affidavit but also proceeding with the work on the Sethusamundram project.

In fact, the two parties already had a minor tussle on the issue at the Cabinet meeting last Thursday with Culture Minister Ambika Soni reportedly suggesting 8220;a proper study8221; before finalising the Centre8217;s stand on the issue and Minister of Transport and Shipping T R Baalu of DMK favouring going ahead with the project.

Soni is understood to have said that while dealing with such issues, the cultural sensibilities of the people must be kept in mind, sources said. She reportedly argued that it was to honour the sensibilities associated with Lord Ram that the country observed public holidays on festivals such as Ram Navami, Dusshera or Diwali. Even Gandhi referred to Ram Rajya while talking about the ideal form of administration, she is understood to have said.

The sources said that Soni had already shared her views with the top leadership of the Congress, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party president Sonia Gandhi. Soni is said to have suggested that a proper archaeological study should be undertaken before coming to the conclusion whether Ram Sethu was man-made or a natural formation.

The sources said that the party was slowly veering around a similar point of view.

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However, Congress cannot go ahead with any such move without accommodating DMK on the issue. Baalu left for Chennai on Friday evening and is expected to have extensive consultations with his party chief M Karunanidhi on the future course of action.

With the matter coming up on Wednesday, both the parties are left with very little time to sort out their differences. Once Baalu returns from Chennai with the brief given by Karunanidhi, the two parties are expected to hold consultations either on Sunday or Monday.

The affidavit in question is to be filed on behalf of the ASI, which had to withdraw its earlier affidavit filed in September following a major political storm over some references. Those references were deleted by the Culture Ministry but the corrections were not carried out before filing that affidavit and two ASI officials are still facing inquiry on the fiasco.