There is tremendous turbulence under the superficial calm in the Congress-led UPA. The talks that began on Thursday, on the eve of the swearing ceremony, and continued till wee hours on Thursday-Friday night, failed completely. Most of the DMK leaders, except one, flew back to Tamilnadu, causing immense embarrassment to the senior alliance partner, Congress. DMK did not relent to persuasions. Though the third largest partner in the alliance, it wanted a lion’s share by asking for nine berths in the Manmohan Singh cabinet. It also wanted to dictate, which persons should become ministers. The PM is reportedly unhappy with Raja and Baalu but Karunanidhi did not budge an inch. He left in a huff, to make his displeasure public. The other side of the coin is that this tough posturing by Karunanidhi is just a symptom, not the disease. Smaller parties are scared that their identities would be overshadowed completely, under the hegemony of the major partner Congress. In fact, Congress did not relent to the suggestion of working out a common minimum programme (CMP), as it had burnt its fingers with the Left Front in last time. Instead, it mooted the idea of a coordination committee. With DMK agreeing to lend outside support to the UPA, at present the Manmohan Singh led government is in minority. Though it is not threatened with numbers, as it still has 322 members supporting it, the embarrassment is deep. It is likely that Congress may opt for another party, like the Samajwadi Party (SP) or the BSP, as these two may be only too happy to join the government. Both Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati are afraid of the CBI cases against them. So while the potboiler in the UPA is still bubbling, with DMK threatened in its own state, where it needs Congress support in the Assembly, the political situation is rife with speculations. It is learnt that the DMK, which is often called ‘Delhi money Karunanidhi’, may face flak from other alliance partners and the Congress. Jayalalitha too may like to fish in troubled waters. Some others feel that the flexing of muscles by Karunanidhi is no more than storm in a tea cup, which would eventually be resolved by Friday evening. Do you think that the DMK has let down the UPA before the swearing in ceremony?