Chennai: It's politics within the Karunanidhi family that's affecting the formation of the new union government. And the 85-year-old chief minister now seems to be caught between his family and his party.
The DMK chief wants 5 Cabinet berths -- one each for his elder son Azhagiri, daughter Kanimozhi and grand nephew Dayanidhi Maran.
This to bring about a balance of power between his children and grand nephew.
The other two berths may go to senior leaders like T R Baalu and A Raja. But the Congress is offering just three Cabinet berths, putting Karunanidhi in a spot.
Says Cho Ramaswamy: "If he accomodates one person of a family in a particular position, he has to do the same thing for two or three others. That's his problem. Now he wants the Congress to to take the responsibility of satisfying all branches of his family."
Analysts say this move will also make the route clear for the elevation of Karunanidhi's younger son M K Stalin to the post of DMK president after Karunanidhi.
In the past both Stalin and Azhagiri have been engaged in a bitter battle.Though that issue has been settled for now, Karunanidhi needs to carefully juggle the political aspirations of his family with that of the party's senior leaders.
For Karunanidhi it is a tight rope walk -- distribution of power between his family and his party. But will it lead to resentment in party circles?