CHENNAI: Although the DMK is no longer in power, the party’s first high level committee meeting after the electoral debacle scheduled for Friday assumes political significance as it has been called in the wake of the latest allegations against Union Textiles minister Dayanidhi Maran and the denial of bail to party MP Kanimozhi by the Delhi High Court on Wednesday.With party chief M Karunanidhi saying upfront that the DMK would not defend Dayanidhi in any way — while expressing concern over Kanimozhi’s plight in Tihar — it is likely that the meeting would discuss the issues that are of immediate concern and chart the future course of action, what with the local body elections just a few months away.Karunanidhi washing his hands of his grandnephew is indication enough that it could be the end of the road in politics for the 44-year-old Maran, whose aspiration to be the party’s face in New Delhi was revealed through the Niira Radia tapes.Apart from the fact that he has been facing charges in the 2G spectrum allocation scam and the BSNL rip-off, it is the manner in which the DMK has distanced itself from him that gives one a sense of deja vu. Maran had earlier fallen from grace in 2007, when he had to quit as Union telecom minister, after Dinakaran, a newspaper owned by his elder brother Kalanithi Maran, published a survey on the popularity of Karunanidhi’s children, triggering violence in Madurai that led to the death of three employees of the daily.Though Maran stayed on as an MP, he was persona non grata until members of Karunanidhi’s first family and the Maran brothers patched up in a well-publicised event in 2008. Prior to the reconciliation, when the UPA government faced a no-confidence motion — where each vote was valuable for the Treasury benches — there was widespread speculation on whether or not Maran would support the government.It was then, to dispel all doubts, that Maran suddenly called for a press conference on the sprawling lawns of his palatial house in the upmarket Boat Club area in the city and announced that he would abide by the DMK whip. But the press conference also saw hundreds of cronies descending upon the venue and raising slogans — even while the MP was addressing the press — urging him to launch his own political party.That Maran did not comply, was accommodated in the DMK and went on to become a Union minister again is history. But then, he did earn a lot of ill-will among the cadre and functionaries of the party, many of whom privately resented his rehabilitation. However, Karunanidhi stood by him like a rock. Now that Karunanidhi has said that Maran will defend himself, it appears that the man who was once seen as the modern, educated and youthful face of the DMK is moving slowly, but surely, towards a long, cold political winter.
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