'DMK not be keen on replacements in the Union Cabinet'

Chennai, July 9: DMK, smarting under resignations of ministers in 2G scam and still upset over the arrest of party chief M Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi, it said to be reluctant to send any replacements to the Union Cabinet in the proposed reshuffle.

Sources said Karunanidhi conveyed this much to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who met him here this morning and is understood to have offered berths for DMK representatives in the vacancies caused by the resignation Dayanidhi Maran and earlier of A Raja both in the wake of their name figuring in the 2G scam.

The DMK is understood to have told Mukherjee that the party will take a decision on the issue at a 2-day meeting of its General Council in Coimbatore on July 23 and 24.

The meeting of the party's highest-policy making body is expected to consider the political situation in the aftermath of the defeat in the assembly elections, including the relations with Congress.

Sources said the party was not not too keen on sending its replacements in the Cabinet in the present juncture in which the party is placed.

Though there was no no official word on what transpired between him and Karunandhi, the Union Finance Minister said that the alliance between the two parties would continue and would be strengthened.

However, he parried a specific question whether the question of DMK filling up its vacancies in the Cabinet was discussed.

PTI