The man who sought to settle his confrontation with saffron legions by referring to Lord Ram, Jesus Christ and Prophet Mohammad as equivalents in his divinity reckoner, the DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi, is under siege. Thanks to his own allies. Though there is no immediate threat, rumbles in the DMK-led Democratic Progressive Alliance do not even require an ear to the ground to detect these days. Leaders of the Congress in Tamil Nadu, mute coalition partners all this while, have started grumbling. They see their political prospects rising, and want power to match. Meanwhile, the PMK leader M Ramdas, whose paternal affection for his doctor-turned-politician son is no secret, has threatened to float a ?third front? sans the two major Dravidian parties. DMK sources, however, dismiss all this as mere pressure tactics. And MK, they add, is well experienced. He is not known to miscalculate.
Star bedazzled
The faction-ridden Congress is on a comeback trail in Tamil Nadu, it seems. This time round, the party is not banking heavily on Delhi heavyweights, but rising stars on the local political firmament. Eavesdropper hears that a faction of the state Congress is out to woo actor-turned-politician Vijayakanth alias Captain, and another faction is cozying up to Sharath Kumar, a star who entered the political fray recently. Does the Congress?s new script have space for any dramatic twists and turns in the drama? The climax, some yawn, is already known. Both the stars-turned-politicians are not ready for any alliance yet. And Delhi is watching.