Jayalalithaa’s offer an act of desperation: DMK leaders

CHENNAI - Leaders of the DMK termed as “an act of desperation” arch rival AIADMK leader J. Jayalalithaa’s offer Thursday to back the government if minister A.Raja’s sacking over his alleged involvement in the 2G spectrum scam leads his party DMK to withdraw support.

“She is very desperate. Somehow, Jayalalithaa wants to woo the Congress. There is no indication to our party that the Congress wants Raja to be out of the cabinet,” T.K.S.Elangovan, DMK MP and the party’s organising secretary, told IANS.

“The alliance with Congress will continue and there is no change in that,” senior DMK leader and Tamil Nadu Electricity Minister Arcot Veerasami told IANS.

Jayalalithaa said the AIADMK had nine members in the Lok Sabha and with the help of “like-minded parties” could offer the support of 18 MPs - to make up for the DMK’s 18 if the latter withdrew support to the United Progressive Alliance govenment.

“Where will she get the numbers?” Elangovan wondered.

He also asserted that there is no need for the DMK to recall Raja at this stage.

“The matter is sub judice. Why should we budge when there is no plausible reason. She is just playing a political game. It is like the pot calling the kettle black,” Elangovan added.

A DMK leader, declining to be identified, told IANS that dropping Raja from the cabinet might backfire when assembly elections are slated in 2011.

According to political commentator Cho Ramaswamy, Jayalalithaa is trying to make out that the Congress is hand in glove in the 2G spectrum scam if it does not act now.

“She declares that her party’s support is there if the Prime Minister is willing to take action,” Ramaswamy told IANS.

Jayalalithaa made her offer in an interview to Times Now television channel, saying she placed no conditions behind propping Singh’s government beyond restoring probity in public life.

She said she was making the unilateral gesture on the presumption that the prime minister was not sacking Raja despite mounting demands for his ouster over the spectrum scam, fearing this could rob him of the majority support in the Lok Sabha and perhaps lead to mid-term elections.

She warned that any further delay in moving against Raja - who has refused to quit and who enjoys the solid backing of the DMK - would further dent the image of the Congress.

Jayalalithaa declined to reveal who are the other MPs - apart from the AIADMK’s nine in the Lok Sabha - who will rally with her to the aid of the Manmohan Singh government if it lost majority support in the Lok Sabha.