A day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met DMK leader M Karunanidhi, it was the turn of Congress president Sonia Gandhi to reach out to her key Southern ally.

She held a joint rally with the DMK patriarch amidst speculation that the Congress may shake hands with the AIADMK after the polls, after Rahul Gandhi said all options are open when asked about Jayalaithaa.

Sonia Gandhi did not say a word about Jayalalithaa, nor did she rule out any post-poll alliance with her. But the joint rally with Karunanidhi gave the troubled DMK some relief for the moment.

"We have worked with this alliance for five years as loyal friends to each other. And we will continue to work together," she said.

This comes a day after Jayalalithaa's scathing attack on Priyanka Gandhi, that it was only after her meeting with Nalini -- a life convict in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case -- that the Lankan government had intensified attacks on Tamils.

"Priyanka had met Nalini who has been convicted in the assassination of her father. Who permitted this? What did they speak? When this was raised, Karunanidhi had kept quiet. This should be made public.
All of this took place with the knowledge of Karunanidhi. Only after Priyanka's meeting with Nalini at the Vellore prison, the attacks on Lankan Tamils intensified in Sri Lanka," Jaya had said.

But the Congress maintains its stand over the question of Tamil Eelam.

The DMK champions the cause of a separate homeland for Lankan Tamils, but Sonia says she will strive to get them equal rights under the 1987 agreement.

The alliance arithmetic is clearly in favour of the AIADMK. But will the hand remain steady or will it be swayed by these two leaves?