M A I N   N E W S

DMK to pull out of UPA govt
n Break-up a fallout of seat-sharing failure in Tamil Nadu
n But the party will continue to offer issue-based support from outside
N Ravikumar
Tribune News Service

Chennai, March 5
Furious with the Congress for demanding 63 seats of its choice for the forthcoming Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, the DMK, a key constituent of the UPA, today decided to withdraw its ministers from the Central government and offer issue-based support to the UPA regime from outside.

Laying the blame for the breaking up of the alliance at the door of the Congress party, a resolution passed at the DMK’s high-level meeting presided over by party supremo M Karunanidhi said the problems and delaying tactics adopted by the Congress party during seat-sharing negotiations had created a situation in which the top-level functionaries and cadres of the two parties could not work together in a friendly manner without any differences.

Explaining the reason for the break-up, the DMK pointed out that the Congress contested only 48 seats in the 2006 Assembly elections in the same alliance. However, the DMK agreed to allot 60 seats this time. After accepting the DMKs offer, the Congress had again demanded 63 seats, that too from the constituencies of its choice.

"From the behaviour of the Congress during the seat-sharing negotiations, the DMK understands that the Congress does not want the former in its alliance and is trying to use the seat-sharing talks as an excuse to force the DMK out of the alliance", the resolution said. Squarely blaming the Congress for the DMK’s decision to withdraw its ministers from the Union government, the DMK resolution said "the Congress does not want the DMK to continue in the alliance or does not like the DMK".

The DMKs decision came after the demand of its parent body, the Dravidar Kazhagam to break its ties with the Congress. Even hours before the high-level meeting began, DK president K Veeramani, held a press meet in Thanjavur today and urged the DMK not to accept the conditions of Congress and to go it alone in the Assembly elections. The DK leader asserted that the DMK could win the next Assembly elections without Congress.