Chennai, May 25: DMK chief M Karunanidhi's daughter
Kanimozhi is unlikely to join the government at the Centre,
apparently miffed at not getting a Cabinet rank or at
least a Minister of State with independent charge.
“We do not think that she will be joining the ministry,”
sources close to her said.
The poetess-daughter of the DMK chief was keen on
getting a Cabinet berth but the party is understood to have
decided that MK Azhagiri, A Raja and Dayanidhi Maran would be
its nominees in the Cabinet accepting the Congress offer.
Azhagiri has already reached Delhi.
After discussions within the party and in the family,
the DMK is believed to have decided yesterday that Azhagiri
may take Fertilisers portfolio, Raja, IT, and Maran Textiles.
Maran was the IT and Communications Minister in the earlier
government before he was dropped due to differences with DMK
leadership about two years ago.
The party is getting four other berths all at the level
of Ministers of State rank. Earlier, there were reports that
Kanimozhi could be MoS with independent charge, a plea that
has reportedly not been conceded by the Congress.
Party sources said that Karunanidhi may make a formal
announcement later in the day about his party's participation
in the Union Ministry, four days after it announced that it
would support the government from outside and not join it
because the Congress' formula on ministerial berths to it was
not acceptable.
Bureau Report
First Published: Monday, May 25, 2009, 15:59