Kanimozhi, daughter of DMK chief M Karunanidhi by his third wife Rajathi Ammal, is all set to submit her nomination papers as the party candidate for the June 27 biennial election to Rajya Sabha. Her present tenure is coming to an end in July along with other five members from Tamil Nadu.
The MlAs belonging to the DMK had a meeting in Chennai on Thursday presided over by Karunanidhi. Though the DMK chief told reporters after the meeting that the decision to contest the Rajya Sabha election would be taken at the right time, party sources told The Pioneer that all DMK MlAs have been told to stay put at Chennai itself. “We are in discussion with various parties about the Rajya Sabha election,” said Karunanidhi. But he did not name the parties with which the discussions are being held.
The DMK is trying frantically to get Kanimozhi re-elected from Tamil Nadu. But the party has only 23 MlAs whereas Kanimozhi needs the support of 34 MlAs. Even if the Congress (five MlAs) and the PMK (three MlAs) extend their support, Kanimozhi is still short of three votes. Though the DMDK led by Vijaykanth has not announced its plan of action for the Rajya Sabha election, party insiders said the possibility of Vijaykanth extending support to the DMK is remote.
“During the 2011 Assembly election, the DMK went overboard and portrayed him as a drunkard through the television network owned by them. How can Vijaykanth or his partymen forget this,” said a party insider.
There were reports that the DMK leadership had approached the CPI(M) for its support to Kanimozhi. Karunanidhi’s representative is believed to have told the CPI(M) leaders that if they could ensure the victory of Kanimozhi in this election, the DMK would extend their support to TK Rangarajan to get re-elected as Rajya Sabha member when his term expires in 2014.
The CPI(M) which has 10 members in Tamil Nadu Assembly is yet to take a decision on this “mutually beneficial arrangement”. If the CPI(M) goes ahead and support the DMK, the party leadership may find it difficult to convince the cadre about the help extended to Kanimozhi, an accused in the 2G spectrum scam.
There are reports that the CPI may field its nominee as the sixth candidate from Tamil Nadu. In the eventuality of the DMDK declares that it would not support the DMK, the left parties with 18 members could still get their nominee sail through with the available votes. It is said that Jayalalithaa declared the names of five AIADMK nominees with this scenario in her mind.