New Delhi, June 15: The Congress is scouting for new allies because some of the coalitions Sonia Gandhi sewed up before the 2004 elections are coming apart.

The worst casualty perhaps is the DMK-led combine, which had won all the Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu in 2004. The MDMK with its four MPs is already out of the alliance and the Pattali Makkal Katchi, led by S. Ramadoss, appears ready to follow suit.

With Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party the other “weak link” in the UPA chain, sources said the Congress was prospecting for Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya Lok Dal and the Janata Dal (Secular), apart from having the Samajwadi Party on its radar.

Tamil Nadu Congress sources said the PMK’s departure would hurt because it has a committed vote base of 7-8 per cent among the backward-caste Vanniyars.

But even if the PMK breaks away from the DMK, Anbumani Ramadoss and R. Velu would continue in the Union cabinet, the sources said. “They have a problem with the DMK, not with us.”

Provoked by an audio tape that allegedly shows one of S. Ramadoss’s confidants threatening DMK minister A. Raja, chief minister M. Karunanidhi has declared he would not “take such insults”. He has called a meeting next week to decide on ties with the PMK.

The MDMK and the PMK have done business with Jayalalithaa before and have hinted they have no problems going back to her. The prospect of a shrunken UPA and an expanded ADMK-led alliance is worrying the Congress.

As for Paswan, he has hedged his bets in the past, eventually going with the winner. He has now hinted at fighting solo in Bihar in the general elections, as he had done during the 2005 Assembly polls. In 2004, Paswan was part of the Lalu Prasad-led combine that picked up most of the seats.

Congress sources said they were “reasonably certain” that the tie-up with Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party would continue to hold.

Although the Congress is eyeing Samajwadi support, a leader involved in Uttar Pradesh said: “My realistic assessment is that we can have an arrangement with them after the polls.”

Ajit Singh was a Samajwadi ally in the 2004 polls but has since parted ways with Mulayam Singh Yadav. With the BJP claiming it is talking to Ajit, the Congress has sent feelers to him as a “pre-emptive strike”.

“Our report is, his base is more or less intact,” a source said. The RLD is strong in the Jat-dominated areas of western Uttar Pradesh.

The Congress hopes to make a fresh beginning with H.D. Deve Gowda’s Dal(S) by securing its support for a second Rajya Sabha seat from Karnataka.

The Congress has enough votes to win one but needs Gowda’s 28 votes to add a second.

“As of now, our understanding will be limited to just the Rajya Sabha seat,” said Prithviraj Chavan, the general secretary in charge of Karnataka.