Kanimozhi arrest: DMK to assess options today

Amid fresh strains with its key ally Congress, the Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam will hold a crucial meeting in Chennai on Wednesday to plan its next course of action in the wake of the Central Bureau of Investigation naming Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi in the second chargesheet in the 2G spectrum scam.  

The DMK top brass would discuss ways to handle the new situation arising out of CBI naming Kanimozhi as co-conspirator in the scam, taking it to the doors of DMK's first family for the first time.

The CBI has accused Kanimozhi, a Rajya Sabha member of Parliament, of entering into a criminal conspiracy with prime accused former telecom minister A Raja, besides charging her under the Prevention of Corruption Act for taking illegal gratification through Kalaignar TV.

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The new development has put additional strain on the DMK-Congress ties in a span of just two months after the Dravidian party threatened to pull out its ministers over seat-sharing talks for Tamil Nadu assembly polls.

The naming of Kanimozhi, a prominent face of DMK, has fuelled speculation that the party might weigh the option of pulling out its ministers though any immediate drastic action was unlikely.

According to party sources, the DMK is unlikely to do anything that would precipitate matters with Congress particularly at a time when results of the Assembly polls will be out on May 13. Party leader Raja has already been chargesheeted and lodged in prison.

Of late, DMK's relations with its seven-year-old ally Congress have been uneasy, more so vis-a-vis the recently held assembly polls. However, crisis-managers on either side ensured that the alliance continued.

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All eyes are now set on Wednesday's meeting where the DMK is expected to work out strategies to extricate itself from the 2G quagmire.

The DMK is apparently miffed at the "publicity exercise of gargantuan proportions" given to CBI questioning Kanimozhi, Karunanidhi's wife Dayaluammal and Sharad Kumar, all stakeholders in Kalaignar TV, which is in the eye of storm for receiving loans from DB Realty in a "circuitous route."

"...Even after it had been proved in a transparent manner that the Rs 200 crore loan given by a firm (DB Reality to Kalaingar TV) was returned with interest and that there was nothing hanky panky and no conspiracy, Dayalu and Kanimozhi were questioned (by CBI)...," a DMK statement said on Monday night.

The supplementary chargesheet filed in a CBI court in the 2G scam probe, however, did not name Dayaluammal as an accused, but mentioned her as one of the witnesses in the case. Her name had prominently figured during investigations fuelling speculation that she could be named as a co-accused.