It is strongly rumoured that a realignment of political parties might occur in Tamil Nadu during the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha polls in the aftermath of yesterday's verdict in the multi-crore 2G scam which absolved the DMK from corruption charges.

The much-awaited verdict by Justice O.P. Saini of a special CBI Court in New Delhi was delivered soon after the Court convened for the day. Justice Saini, who took his time in framing the verdict, read it out absolving former Union Telecom Minister A. Raja and DMK's Rajya Sabha M.P. and 12 others against who charge-sheets were filed, stating that the CBI had failed miserably to produce enough evidences in the case.

With this, the 'stain' of a corrupt party would surely be removed from the DMK which had been pilloried in the past as reference to the 2G scam was invariably made whenever the DMK's name was uttered by its opponents. Now that Kanimozhi, Raja and Dayalu Ammal had been absolved from the case, the DMK not only celebrated it with crackers/sweets but also heaved a sigh of relief of unloading unwanted luggage.

Political observers point out that the BJP at the Centre might move towards forging a long-term alliance with the DMK which has become a 'clean party' overnight. It may be recalled that during his visit to Chennai a few weeks back, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an unscheduled visit to Gopalapuram to call on the ageing DMK chief and wish him well. Stalin and Kanimozhi too appeared pleased with the PM's visit.

Congress, a long-standing ally of the DMK, didn't take kindly to this and boycotted the anti-Centre protests indulged in by the DMK soon after. It is still said in DMK circles that Kanimozhi and Azhagiri may not favour an alliance with the BJP even if party's working president Stalin gives his nod for the same.