Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader M Karunanidhi on Thursday played his cards close to his chest over what his party would do in the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls. Insisting that the DMK is yet to hold talks with any party, he however said general feelers would be put out soon.
Karunanidhi also gave a cryptic reply when asked about the polls, saying the DMK’s decisions would become apparent in the coming days.
His comments came soon after an emergency meeting of the DMK MLAs held at the party headquarters here. The veteran leader rejected reports that the meeting was meant to discuss the RS polls with party legislators, and insisted that they had discussed the party’s election fund.
Prior to the meeting, a DMK legislator, who wished not to be named, told Express that the party high command was expected to inform them of the Rajya Sabha poll strategy and issue instructions on how to handle the media in the coming days. But the MLA remained incommunicado after the meeting.
With the re-election bid of his daughter Kanimozhi at stake, Karunanidhi played cautious. “We have not decided anything. We will take decisions at the appropriate time. There are still four days left for the Rajya Sabha polls,” he said.
Karunanidhi also sought to downplay speculation that his party had been in talks with parties like the DMDK and CPM.
With the ongoing erosion in the ranks of the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam, the DMK has become the second largest party in the Tamil Nadu Assembly with 23 MLAs. This is still short of 34 MLAs the party needs to get Kanimozhi back into the Rajya Sabha. Sources in the party say attempts are underway to strike a deal with the DMDK for Kanimozhi’s re-election, using next year’s Lok Sabha election as a bargaining counter.
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