New Delhi: With stakes high, Congress high command is expected to take a decision tomorrow on the issue of support in the June 27 biennial election for six Rajya Sabha seats from Tamil Nadu. The issue has kept the DMK and DMDK on tenterhooks, which are locked in a fierce battle for the sixth seat in the polls.
Without going into the specifics, highly placed sources in the party said a decision in this regard will be taken on Monday. With Lok Sabha elections not far away, the party high command is weighing on whom its five MLAs in the Legislative Assembly will support, DMK or DMDK.
The DMK has 23 MLAs in the 234-member Assembly as against the required 34, while actor-politician Vijaykanth's DMDK has 22 MLAs. AIADMK and Left parties, which have fielded four and one candidate respectively, have one have enough numbers to ensure victory of their respective contestants.
The ruling party is backing CPI nominee D Raja. Congress had contested last Lok Sabha polls in alliance with the DMK, its ally for the past nine years in the UPA which had parted ways a few months back.
The election is a matter of prestige for DMK supremo M Karunanidhi who has fielded his daughter Kanimozhi. According to reports, both the DMK and DMDK have increased pressure on the Congress seeking support for their candidates - Kanimozhi and A R Elangovan respectively - by deputing their senior leaders TR Baalu (DMK) and Sudheesh (brother-in-law of DMDK president Vijayakant) to senior Congress leaders here.
Baalu, who is the DMK's parliamentary party leader, met Defence Minister and Congress troubleshooter AK Antony at South Block here yesterday and reminded him about the letter written by Karunanidhi to party president Sonia Gandhi seeking support for Kanimozhi.
DMK has bagged the support of Puthiya Tamizhagam and Manitha Neya Makkal Katchi, both having two MLAs each. The DMK is expecting PMKs support for re-election of Kanimozhi, but the latter has announced boycott of polls.
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