The Congress devoted an entire section of a seven-page memorandum, submitted to Union Home Minister L K Advani today on the MDMA, to Karunanidhi and the tenor of the recommendation suggests that the party could be amenable to aligning with the AIADMK if the situation arises on forming an alternative government at the Centre.

``The Congress insists that the agency be directed by the government to investigate all matters relating to Karunanidhi as adverted by the Commission and proceed against him in a court of law, if warranted by the evidence which will be uncovered,'' the memorandum says on page five.

It adds: ``The Congress is not satisfied with the government's decisionto request the State government to examine the reasons for, and comment on, the failure of intelligence and lack of vigil on the coast. The same State government, led by the same political party, which was responsible for the failure of intelligence and lack of vigil on the coast, is now being requested to examine its own failures and its lack of vigil. What is required is a full investigation by the proposed independent investigative agency into all these matters with a view to establishing whether grounds exist to prosecute those responsible in a criminal court.''

This thus indicates the Congress' dilemma on the Rajiv Gandhi assassination issue. While it can't be seen as soft on the DMK, it also cannot go the whole hog and seek Karunanidhi's sacking. The whole thing has now acquired political overtones and the Congress is aware of the tough balancing act it needs to perform between the DMK and the AIADMK if it has to have any chance of returning to 7, Race Course Road, should the BJP-led governmentfall.

The memorandum was submitted to Advani by a delegation of nine Congress leaders in what was the first important meeting between the two sides on this issue after the Jain Commission's final report was placed in Parliament in the last session of Parliament. From the Congress side were: Sharad Pawar, Manmohan Singh, Arjun Singh, Pranab Mukherjee, Mani Shankar Aiyar, Suresh Pachouri, P J Kurien, Kapil Sibal and R N Mital.

The Centre was represented by Advani, Urban Affairs minister Ram Jethmalani and seven top officials including Home Secretary B P Singh, CBI Director Trinath Mishra, who will head the MDMA, and the chiefs of the IB, RAW, ED and Revenue Intelligence.

The 90-minute meeting apparently went off smoothly and Advani is believed to have assured full cooperation in the matter adding that the Congress' suggestions would be kept in mind. It was also indicated that the MDMA would be constituted sooner than later though no time-limit was officially fixed.

The Congress also suggested that theconspiracy alleged by Mahant Sewa Dass, involving Chandraswami, be investigated independently, instead of the suggested independent evaluation. It also said that it needed to be established whether documents were withheld from the Jain Commission, an event under P V Narasimha Rao's tenure which has since divided the Congress itself.

The party added that the death of Shanmugham and the assassination of Padmanabhan be looked into by the same agency which would looking into other aspects of the Rajiv killing.