Ending days of suspense,the Congress finally decided to support DMK candidate Kanimozhi in the coming Rajya Sabha polls,choosing the old partner over the DMDK. This will add five votes to Kanimozhis tally which will go up to 32,while her rival A R Elangovan of the DMDK has only 22 assured votes plus a maximum of seven votes from the rebel MLAs. TNCC president B S Gnanadesikan said in a statement on Tuesday that the decision was conveyed to him over phone by Mukul Wasnik,the AICC general secretary in charge of the state. The decision to field Kanimozhi,the daughter of DMK president M Karunanidhi,was a gamble that the party took. When her candidature was announced,Kanimozhi only had the backing of 23 MLAs of her party. Soon enough,backroom manoeuvres brought in two smaller parties with two MLAs each,and now the Congress,which has almost secured her return to Delhi. Of the six seats that fell vacant,the AIADMK will win the four that it is contesting,and will help Left candidate D Raja with extra votes for the fifth seat. The last vacancy is a fight between the DMK and the DMDK. The polling is scheduled for Thursday.
