DMK-Congress ties perfect, says Karunanidhi

CHENNAI: Terming the ties between the DMK and Congress as an "ideal relationship", chief minister M Karunanidhi on Sunday said the alliance was
strong and would continue for many more years.

At the 80th birthday celebrations of Muktha V Srinivasan, a film personality and senior Congressman, Karunanidhi said India would be strong and Tamil Nadu would prosper as long as the Congress and DMK were together. "Many more welfare schemes can be executed in Tamil Nadu only if the alliance continued."

Karunanidhi recalled his long association with the Congress, beginning with former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1980 when he welcomed her with his remarks `Nehruvin Magale Varuga, Nilayana Atchiyai Tharuga'. welcoming her as Nehru's daughter' and urging her to provide stability to the country (after the Janata regime ended prematurely).

The DMK leader's remarks underscoring the strength of his ties with the Congress come close on the heels of signs that the relationship had entered an uneasy phase. On a recent whirlwind tour of TN to strengthen the Congress at the grassroots, Rahul Gandhi had not met Karunanidhi, raising many eyebrows in the process.

Later, the DMK's announcement of an agitation against Union environment and forests minister Jairam Ramesh (which was later called off); former TNCC president EVKS Elangovan's threat to organise protests against DMK's Union minister A Raja as a counter-move, CBI raids on Raja's offices of telecom department headed by A Raja were all indicative of some strain, but Karunanidhi's remarks have sought to allay such apprehensions.