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Congress comforts Karunanidhi but says can't stop legal process

NEW DELHI: Congress on Tuesday walked the extra mile to comfort M Karunanidhi, crestfallen by his daughter Kanimozhi's arrest, and even rebuffed his arch rival Jayalalitha when she sought to revive DMK's alleged links to Rajiv Gandhi's assassination. However, the party made it clear that it could do nothing to stop the law from following its course in the 2G spectrum scam case. Congress's position was spelt out unambiguously by Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad just after he met Karunanidhi at his hotel in the Capital. "Our leader Sonia Gandhi is concerned because Kanimozhi being a woman is in jail and it is a matter of concern. But the fact is that one cannot do anything." The nuanced statement in public again confirmed that while Congress, needing the support of DMK's 18 members in Lok Sabha, does not wish to terminate the tie-up with Karunanidhi but it will keep a safe distance from the partner seen as instrumental in the biggest-ever corruption scam. That Congress is in no hurry to swap partners in Tamil Nadu was underlined when party spokesperson Manish Tewari rebuffed Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalitha's attempt to drive a wedge between Sonia and Karunanidhi by reviving the allegation of DMK's links to Rajiv Gandhi's assassination in 1991. "People should refrain from trying to politicize a tragedy of the proportions which are undefinable," Tiwari said in a curt riposte to Jayalalitha. Congress's "thus far-no further" political trapeze is facilitated by DMK's weakened hand in negotiations with the central partner. DMK normally would not be appreciative of pleas of executive's helplessness before an assertive judiciary. However, having been routed in an election in a state known for its appetite for vendetta, the party has little option but to play along as Congress leadership points to judicial oversight of the spectrum scam investigation. It recognizes full well that acting tough will give Jayalalitha the opening to squeeze into the UPA, exposing it to the risk of facing unfriendly regimes both at the Centre and in Chennai. Congress's confidence that DMK's protests will stay within safe limits was again obvious on Tuesday, with Azad asserting that the alliance would remain intact. The sanguine assessment may not seem to be misplaced considering that DMK preferred to retreat from the brink even when it had not lost Tamil Nadu. Karunanidhi, however, would derive comfort from the fact that Congress chose to block Jayalaltha's offensive over DMK's alleged link to Rajiv Gandhi's killing. Congress brought down the United Front government in 1998 after Jain Commission indicted DMK's role in the assassination The aversion for DMK, which heralded the spring for BJP-led NDA, ended with Sonia's famous visit to Karunanidhi in the run-up to 2004 polls. It turned the page on Congress's relationship with DMK and the alliance has survived for seven years now, all with UPA in power. The Congress-DMK relationship is driven by mutual compulsions, which seem to make it more durable in the present. While the Dravidian party needs a power perch at the Centre to face a vindictive Jayalalithaa, UPA also requires DMK's 18 MPs to stay comfortable in Parliament.

                                                                                                               
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