There was a careful strategy to the DMK trying to appear noble by staying aloof during Manmohan Singh’s cabinet reshuffle. Belying all speculation, it did not demand any additional cabinet berths for itself. This gave it a chance to seem accommodating, a far cry from before, when it used to push for plum posts during such exercises. But the primary motive, sources say, was so that DMK patriarch and Tamil Nadu chief minister M. Karunanidhi would get to be in a better position to bargain for more seats during seat-sharing talks with the Congress ahead of assembly polls this May. His discomfiture had been increasing ever since the Congress got assertive over the 2G scam and the alleged role of A. Raja, former telecom minister. There was also a feeling that the Congress high command may back the demand by state party leaders that the party be given more seats. Besides, prior to the polls, the DMK wanted to project that it isn’t seeking power and pelf, caught as it is in a bind over Raja’s alleged role in the scam. Also, the Radia tapes had revealed its devious manoeuvres to get six berths in May 2009. With AIADMK chief J. Jayalalitha already going to town with the 2G scam, the DMK felt it was better not to give her more ammunition. “Azhagiri and Stalin advised their father to reject the offer made by Ghulam Nabi Azad (during a recent visit). He was told a berth could always be demanded after the assembly polls,” says a source.
Karunanidhi was also faced with the dilemma of who to pick. The prime minister had reservations about T.R. Baalu (one of the possibilities) when UPA-II was formed. To choose Dalit MP A.K.S. Vijayan would mean Raja was being permanently replaced, suggesting the DMK was acknowledging his guilt. Moreover, it was felt that Vijayan was far too inexperienced for a cabinet post. The DMK also did not want dissent in the party that the dynamics of such an exercise would bring in.
