Date:13/09/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/13/stories/2008091355811200.htm

National

A “hypothetical question”

Special Correspondent

BANGALORE: Could the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam become a BJP ally ahead of the next Lok Sabha election?

This is a “purely hypothetical question,” BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad told journalists on the opening day Friday of the party’s national executive committee meeting here.

He pointed out that although the DMK, led by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, had been an ally of the BJP, currently it was very much part of the United Progressive Alliance.

Mr. Prasad, who is in charge of the BJP affairs in Tamil Nadu affairs, preferred not to answer the question directly, but said Mr. Karunanidhi’s “utterances” on the Ramar Sethu issue made it obvious that the differences between the two parties on some issues might be too wide to be bridged.

‘Past is past’

“The past is past, the present is under scrutiny,” was his comment.