No Congress-AIDMK Alliance Till DMK in Between

One thing has emerged clearly from Jayalalitha's recent visit to Delhi that there won't be any sort of alliance between Congress and AIDMK as long as DMK continues to be an ally of the Congress at the centre. The Tamilnadu chief minister made this very clear by saying as long as DMK continues to be an ally of the Congress, it would not be 'appropriate" for her to meet the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

Moreover, despite the red-carpet welcome given by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Jayalalitha quite harshly demanded the resignation of not just one but two Union Cabinet ministers - P Chidambaram and Dayanidhi Maran - on two different grounds. Addressing a press conference after meeting with the Prime Minister, to the surprise of everyone, Jayalalitha accused the Union Home Minister P Chidambaram with cheating the nation. Chidambaram, she said, had "lost the election in 2009 (from Sivaganga), AIADMK candidate had won - the case is in the court. There is no softening in our stand. The position of Chidambaram is untenable."

Not alone Chidambaram, Jayalalitha directed her wrath with harshest criticism at her political rival and UPA-ally, the DMK. Without bothering to nuance her statement, Jayalalitha targeted Dayanidhi Maran, saying that he "should step down from the Council of Ministers immediately. If he doesn't, the Prime Minister should drop him." There was no ambiguity in her prescription. Even the PM may have got clear indications from her that Maran, the textile minister who's also the DMK chief M Karunanidhi's grandnephew, has to go first for Manmohan Singh to nurture any hope of striking a new alliance with the AIDMK chief.