Congress alliance with DMK will continue, says Pranab

Mukherjee flies to Chennai to meet Karunanidhi, dismissing speculation of widening rift; DMK patriarch expresses reluctance at sending nominees for the proposed new cabinet

Congress alliance with DMK will continue, says Pranab

Mukherjee flies to Chennai to meet Karunanidhi, dismissing speculation of widening rift; DMK patriarch expresses reluctance at sending nominees for the proposed new cabinet

After DMK leader Dayanidhi Maran's resignation from the Union Cabinet and talk of an imminent cabinet reshuffle, Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee travelled to Chennai to meet DMK chief M Karunanidhi on Saturday, to reconfirm Congress's alliance with the DMK.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee

After an hour-long meeting with Karunanidhi at his residence, Mukherjee told reporters, "There is a lot of speculation about whether the DMK-Congress alliance will continue or not. The alliance is there and will continue."

Mukherjee's remarks come against the backdrop of a strain in ties between the two parties following the exit of Maran, and the arrest of A Raja and Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi, and the rout of the alliance in the Tamil Nadu Assembly polls.

Seeking to downplay his meeting, Mukherjee said it was his practice to call on the DMK leader whenever he was in the city.

However, he declined to answer queries on the proposed cabinet reshuffle.

According to sources, Mukherjee is understood to have offered berths for DMK representatives in the vacancies caused by the resignations of Maran (textile portfolio) and Raja (telecom ministry). But Karunanidhi is said to have expressed reluctance at sending any replacements to the Union Cabinet in the proposed reshuffle. He is understood to have told Mukherjee that the party will take a final call on the issue at a two-day meeting of its General Council in Coimbatore on July 23 and 24.