MK makes no attempt to hide displeasure

NEW DELHI: DMK president M Karunanidhi and his son, M K Stalin, seem to have generally conveyed to the Congress leaders who met him in Delhi that their party continues to be in the UPA alliance because of limited options. Karunanidhi is said to have plainly put it across that he feels that the Congress has not done enough for either the DMK or his daughter.As a father, he said to be of the firm belief that his youngest daughter is a victim of opposition propaganda and that Kanimozhi has been incarcerated mostly because of “a political witch-hunt” rather than her alleged involvement in the 2G spectrum case.Azad, of course, tried hard to blow away the air of mistrust that has crept into the alliance, saying the ties between the two parties are “intact” despite the recent electoral debacle in TN and the DMK MP’s arrest. “They understand it’s a legal process and we’ve no role in it. All that is going on has no impact on the alliance-now or in the future. We’re together,” Azad said, following his meeting with Karunanidhi. Neither Karunanidhi nor Stalin made any attempt to hide their disappointment with the Congress. On being told that the former CM was “looking fine”, he apparently retorted that the “depression is in his heart’’. Having failed to persuade Karunanidhi to meet Sonia, the Congress leaders (P Chidambaram, Azad and Natarajan) did the next best thing: convince him that Sonia, herself, is “very concerned” about Kani’s condition. “Our leader Sonia Gandhi is concerned about Kanimozhi-it is difficult situation, a woman in jail. It is a matter of grave concern, more so as one cannot do anything about it,” Azad said, harping on the long personal relation that he has had with the DMK patriarch.  The Congress desperately hoped that Karunanidhi would understand. “He is a man of political understanding and he knows that the Supreme Court is monitoring the case and a special court is looking into it,” Azad said, adding that the government was not interfering with the CWG case as well. Somewhat echoing Azad’s view, Natarajan said the “DMK will fight the case legally.” Meanwhile, some more members of the dejected DMK first family-ministers Dayanidhi Maran, M K Alagiri, and his wife Kanthi-visited Kanimozhi in the jail on Tuesday.