At a crowded press meet, the DMK chief read out the agreement reached between him and senior Congress leader Janardhan Reddy on portfolios to prove his point that the Congress was going back on its word. Karunanidhi relented after the PM ‘honoured’ his commitment, giving seven of his 16 party MPs heavyweight portfolios in the Union Cabinet.

While Karunanidhi is seen as being instrumental in cobbling up the formidable rainbow alliance which swept the Lok Sabha polls in 2004, the Congress lost four of the 40 seats from its kitty in Tamil Nadu and Union Territory of Pondicherry when MDMK’s Vaiko quit the DMK-led alliance before the Assembly polls. When Vaiko teamed up with the AIADMK’s Amma, Karunanidhi pressured the Congress to throw out the MDMK from the UPA.

For Prime Minister Singh, keeping a firm hold on the government despite the tugs and pulls from his meddling allies, particularly those from Tamil Nadu, is proving to be his toughest brief.

Past Imperfect

July 2004

Karunanidhi steps up pressure on Congress to part with two important portfolios promised to him — Shipping for T.R. Baalu and Finance and Revenue for S.S. Palanimanickam. Karunanidhi says his party will not be part of the government until Congress gives in to his demand and discloses the details of the agreement to the media. Congress concedes, 7 DMK nominees are inducted as Union Ministers

Jan/Feb 2006
Union Environment Minister A Raja, turns deaf ear to protests from activists that the controversial French warship Clemenceau, containing more than 500 tonnes of asbestos, heading for the ship-breaking yard at Alang in Gujarat, should not be allowed into Indian waters. The French Government finally takes back the ship and activists demand Raja’s resignation on moral grounds.

... contd.