After midnight twists and turns, the drama scripted by veteran screenwriter Kalaignar M Karunanidhi had a happy ending this evening. All seven DMK ministers will take charge of their ministries tomorrow. A beaming DMK president announced in Chennai that ‘‘timely intervention’’ by Congress president Sonia Gandhi ensured that the commitment given to the DMK on portfolio allocation was honoured. So S. Palanimanickam, who was initially given the Commerce department, will now be minister of state for Finance in charge of Revenue. T.R. Baalu, the Surface Transport minister, will get the additional charge of Shipping. The only demand that has not been met is for the ministry of Personnel for S. Raghupathy, MoS for Home Affairs. ‘‘It’s a minor issue. It can be sorted out later,’’ said Karunanidhi. Asked if he had sought the Revenue department to speed up cases against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, Karunanidhi said: ‘‘I don’t wish to mention any names. But the due process of law would be followed to speed up the pending cases.’’ The DMK’s high-power policy planning committee, in its emergency session this evening, thanked Sonia Gandhi for creating a conducive atmosphere for the DMK Ministers to assume charge of their ministries and congratulated her ‘‘on her supreme act of sacrifice in declining Prime Ministership.’’ Early this morning, the man holding the contentious Shipping portfolio, Telengana Rashtra Samiti’s Chandrasekhar Rao, gave it up in the ‘‘larger national interest,’’ while underscoring the demand for a ‘‘separate Telengana.’’ Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, the Congress leader handling the crisis, said: ‘‘He has expressed no reservations on remaining a minister without portfolio.’’ Rao, who met Sonia Gandhi last night and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today, said, ‘‘Compared to what Sonia Gandhi did, my sacrifice is very insignificant.’’ In the same breath, Rao said his struggle for getting statehood for Telengana will continue, fuelling speculation that his ‘‘sacrifice’’ was an answer to compulsions back home. Questions were being raised about his accepting the ministerial berth, neglecting the ‘‘cause’’ of Telengana. The Congress is said to be thinking of ‘‘accommodating’’ Rao by either giving him another portfolio, or by promising a special package for the Telengana region. Rao’s move, which he said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ‘‘deeply appreciated,’’ could put pressure on Congress to expedite its decision on Telengana. Soon after his meeting today with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the company of Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Minister for Communications and Information Techonology Dayaninidhi Maran said, ‘‘Everything has been resolved and the changes in the portfolio allocation have been communicated to President Abdul Kalam. We never asked for anything. We only asked for what was promised.’’ Chidambaram said he had no problems having a deputy. ‘‘Manikkam is a friend of mine. There will be no problem working with him.’’
