Relieved, Karunanidhi all praise for Manmohan and Sonia

Relieved that a major crisis had been averted at the Centre over the nuclear deal, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and UPA ally M Karunanidhi heaped praises on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh...

Relieved that a major crisis had been averted at the Centre over the nuclear deal, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and UPA ally M Karunanidhi heaped praises on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi, describing their speeches on Friday as being “scholarly” and showing “profound understanding” of politics and coalition dharma.

It is believed that the DMK was one of the UPA constituents which had advised the Prime Minister that the n-deal was not worth sacrificing the Government and that “saving the Government was more important than pursuing the deal”.

“For the ruling DMK, caught in the midst of the Ram Sethu controversy, and an unfinished ‘Tamil dream’ (read the Sethusamudram Shipping Canal project), snap polls at this juncture was definitely an uncomfortable prospect.

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So, in a letter to Dr Singh on Saturday, Karunanidhi described as his speech in Delhi as “scholarly”, saying, “Your scholarly response to the questions yesterday is really extraordinary and remarkable.” He could “see the Prime Minister’s inner conscience through the pregnant words”, the DMK chief told his ally.

Karunanidhi elaborated the “pregnant words” to include: “We are not a one issue Government. We have made changes in various areas. In life, one has to take certain disappointments and move to the next. If the (nuclear) deal does come through, that is not the end of life. In politics, we must survive short-term battles to address long-term concerns.”

Karunanidhi pointed out: “These comments epitomise the whole of Singh’s experience in politics and in various other spheres of life.”

In a similar letter to Sonia, Karunanidhi congratulated the UPA Chairperson for her speech at the summit, saying it revealed her “profound understanding” of politics.

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The Chief Minister said: “You have said that dharma of coalition is to work together, try and understand and accommodate each other’s view. These vibrant words speak volumes of your profound understanding of politics.”