The DMK, the second largest constituent of the Congress-led UPA at the Centre, will not seek fresh berths in the Union Cabinet in the event of a reshuffle, Party President M Karunanidhi asserted today. Replying to a set of questions, he said whatever changes are being made in the Union Cabinet there would not be any fresh faces either as Cabinet Minister or Minister of State. “No new DMK face will be present either as Cabinet Minister or Minister of State if there is a reshuffle”, Mr Karunanidhi said and added that this was the firm stand of the DMK. He was responding to questions on media reports that DMK might get new berths in the Union Cabinet during the reshuffle. DMK is now a crucial ally of the Congress-led UPA.
With the exit of Trinamool Congress, DMK, with 18 MPs has emerged as the second largest party in the Government and the party had on September 25 turned down the Prime Minister’s offer to fill up its two Cabinet berths that remained vacant for a long time following the resignation of Ministers A Raja and Dayanidhi Maran in connection with the multi-crore 2G spectrum scam.
—-UNI