In a quick turn of events, the Congress and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Monday softened their stand on the issue of seat-sharing and moved close to an understanding.
The DMK, which decided two days ago that it would pull out its Ministers from the United Progressive Alliance government, said the resignations were put on hold following a request by Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to wait for one more day to sort out the differences.
Mr. Mukherjee called up DMK president M. Karunanidhi twice during the day and sought a day's time, according to Deputy Chief Minister and DMK treasurer M.K. Stalin. The Congress leader was in touch with other DMK leaders also.
Senior DMK leaders expressed confidence that the differences over the number of seats sought by the Congress to contest the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections would be resolved by in a day or two.
Negotiations had hit a roadblock a few days ago, with Mr. Karunanidhi accusing the Congress of making a fresh demand for three extra seats after settling for 60. The Congress, on its part, did not make any overt effort at a rapprochement over the weekend.
Going by a decision of the party's high-power committee, the six Union Ministers of the DMK reached New Delhi to submit their resignations on Monday, giving the impression of the alliance reaching a breaking point.
However, negotiations dramatically revived in the course of the day, apparently with pressure groups working within both parties in favour of resumption of talks. Sections of the two parties felt that the alliance should continue in mutual interest. Many Congress legislators feared that if the party went it alone, its winning prospects would be very bleak.
Within the DMK, a significant section did not want to impair the party's prospects by letting go of a successful combination. The DMK may find the going tough in some regions, the Cauvery delta and parts of southern districts, for instance, if the Congress is not part of the alliance.
The softening of stance by both sides after tough posturing indicates the tension between different strands of opinion within both parties. In the Congress, the divide is over following the ‘Rahul Gandhi' line of charting an independent course and putting enough distance between the party and the “2G scam-tainted” DMK, and the pragmatic choice of travelling on the regional party's shoulders and retaining the support of its 18 MPs in the Lok Sabha.
In the DMK, some sections were happy that the party's self-respect had been upheld by the decision to leave the UPA government, thus ending the “arm-twisting” tactics of the Congress. However, there, too, the fear of its electoral prospects being jeopardised and the threat of a quick realignment of forces prevailed over the ‘self-respect' line.
Late at night, Union Ministers Dayanidhi Maran and M.K.Alagiri called on Congress president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi.
