Agencies/
Textiles Minister and DMK leader Dayanidhi Maran leaves after meeting with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in
A key member of the Congress-led ruling coalition put off its plan to resign ministerial posts until today, offering respite to a government fighting to win back public trust after a raft of corruption scandals.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazagham, which gives Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s United Progressive Alliance vital support in parliament, had said its six ministers would quit the coalition yesterday because of a row over seats to be contested in the Tamil Nadu assembly election next month.
But after talks between Congress leader and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and DMK supremo and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, his son and Deputy Chief Minister M K Stalin said the resignations were put on hold after the two sides launched parleys to repair their alliance.
“The resignations are on hold,” Stalin said.
According to Karunanidhi, the Congress’ “unjustifiable demand” for 63 seats of its choice for the April 13 assembly election was ‘one of the reasons’ for the party’s dramatic decision.
On Sunday, the Congress did not make any apparent moves to salvage the alliance. However, yesterday it was different with Congress leaders, including Mukherjee and Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s political secretary Ahmed Patel, meeting the DMK’s Dayanidhi Maran at parliament house.
The announcement by Tamil Nadu’s ruling party that it was leaving the cabinet was the latest in a series of problems that Singh has faced, ranging from corruption scandals to an inability to push through reforms in parliament.
The coalition was not in danger of collapse even if the DMK ministers left because the party said it would continue to give conditional support to the government.
The Congress Party could also seek support from other regional groups to boost its numbers in parliament, as few want to face an election more than three years ahead of schedule.
But the cracks in the ruling alliance have reinforced the image of an administration adrift, unable to tackle a culture of corruption or curb inflation that has stoked public anger.
Analysts said it looked increasingly likely that the Congress and the DMK would patch things up, as each was weaker without the other.
“I expect a compromise. They need each other. However bad the Congress is with the DMK, they are worse without it,” said Mahesh Rangarajan of the
The DMK, which has been implicated in a massive telecoms scandal, has six ministerial posts in the council of ministers, which represents the full range of the federal government.
It holds two positions - minister of textiles and minister of chemicals and fertilizers - in the 34-member cabinet.
Singh’s coalition has a majority of one, with 273 members in the 545-seat Lok Sabha, the lower house of parliament.
The MulayamSingh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party has said it would consider supporting the coalition if it was approached.
Indian shares dropped 1.4% yesterday, with rate sensitive sectors contributing the most to losses, hit by political worries and surging crude oil prices.
“DMK’s pullout will add to the already weak investor sentiment,” said Arun Kejriwal, director of research firm KRIS.
“The uncertainty over the political scene will lead to a volatile market.”
Ties between the Congress and the DMK have been strained since former telecoms minister A Raja, a DMK leader, was fired from the federal cabinet and detained for selling 2G telecom licences at low prices which an audit said had cost the government at least $40bn loss.
The scandal, said to be
In February, he bowed to demands for a parliamentary investigation into the scandal after months of protests by the opposition stalled the last session.