Baalu (top) and Raja

Chennai, March 5: There was a sense of déjà vu when the DMK announced its decision to withdraw from the UPA government citing the Congress demand for more Assembly seats.

More than seven years ago, in December 2003, the DMK had resorted to a similar withdrawal from the central government, then headed by the BJP-led NDA.

Unlike this time, when wrangling over seat-sharing was blamed, in 2003 the DMK had latched on to a vague criticism by then BJP president Venkaiah Naidu about a DMK protest against the Centre to wriggle out of the NDA.

Since the party had already decided to contest the 2004 Lok Sabha elections with the Congress, it wanted a way out of the NDA grouping and Naidu’s criticism came in handy.

A month later, it finalised an alliance with the Congress that survived through two Lok Sabha elections (2004 and 2009) and one Assembly vote (2006).

Even then the DMK had said that it would give “issue-based support” to the NDA but no such support was forthcoming.

Its two ministers — T.R. Baalu and A. Raja — submitted their resignation to Vajpayee personally and Karunanidhi even praised them for acting selflessly in following the party’s diktat.

Even if the DMK now offers issue-based support it would mean that the Congress would have to turn to it whenever a bill has to be passed in the Lok Sabha.

In the immediate future, the Congress would need to pass the Union budget in the Lok Sabha, and the DMK will have to decide its stand.

It remains to be seen whether the Congress receives its support on the Finance Bill if it opens channels with the AIADMK for the Assembly elections.

To play it safe, the Congress may start scouting for support from other parties like the AIADMK, which has nine MPs.

During the early stages of the United Front government in 1997, too, the DMK had once threatened to quit after Lalu Prasad was targeted by the Left for corruption. But it later withdrew that threat.

But the DMK’s indictment by the Jain Commission in its inquiry into the Rajiv Gandhi assassination led to the Congress withdrawing its support.

M Karunanidhi holds the party’s high-level meeting in Chennai on Saturday. (PTI)