DMK to pull out of UPA govt

DMK on Saturday decided to pull out of the Congress-led Government at the Centre after talks between the two parties on seat-sharing for the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections failed.DMK President M Karunanidhi, who had accused the Congress of being unreasonable in its demand, on Saturday charged the ally of trying to push it out of the UPA.The meeting of the party's high-powered committee presided over by him adopted a resolution to pull out of the government and to give issue-based support.

Meanwhile, Senior DMK leader T R Baalu indicated his party could review its decision to pull its ministers out of the Union Cabinet if the Congress relents on its stand over sharing of seats in the upcoming Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu.
Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi gave a guarded reaction on the development, keeping alive the hopes of a settlement on seat sharing even at this stage.
"There is no need to comment on it now. This (has happened) in the middle of negotiations and unnecessary press comments will muddy the waters," was the refrain of Singhvi. Indicating that the party has been caught off-guard on the issue, a senior party functionary, who did not wish to be identified, said, "We are not going to react until the DMK officially communicates to us the decision."

Apparently referring to the Congress' demand of 63 seats of its choice after agreeing to 60, he said the Congress stand does not help for an amicable poll accord.

"We are compelled to suspect that these are all efforts by Congress to push us out of the UPA. Under these circumstances we have to think whether to continue in the government. "So we have decided to relieve ourselves from the government," Karunanidhi told the meeting.He made it clear that while pulling out its six ministers from the Union Cabinet, the party would give issue-based support to the Manmohan Singh government during times of trouble.With 18 MPs, the DMK is the second largest ally of Congress in the UPA after Trinamool Congress which has 19 MPs.

The DMK's decision on on Saturday puts the seven-year-old successful alliance between the two parties under severe strain ahead of the April 13 polls when it faces a tough challenge from rival AIADMK which has already tied-up with actor Vijayakant's DMDK and Left parties.The DMK-Congress alliance swept all the 40 Lok Sabha seats including the lone Puducherry seat in the 2004 elections and won 28 seats in the 2009 general elections. The combine also won the 2006 Assembly elections, though DMK could not get a majority on its own.Baalu does not rule out reviewing decision to pull out

Senior DMK leader T R Baalu indicated his party could review its decision to pull its ministers out of the Union Cabinet if the Congress relents on its stand over sharing of seats in the upcoming Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu.Baalu also said the DMK's six Union ministers will hand over the resignations only after a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and that there is no move to fax their resignations right away.

"Definitely we will have a discussion if they(Congress) reconsider. If Congress agrees for 60 seats we will reconsider out decision(to pull out of Cabinet)," Baalu told reporters.Baalu made it clear that the withdrawal of support stemmed only from problems over "seat sharing" and had nothing to do with the 2G Spectrum scam in which senior DMK leader and former Telecom minister A Raja is allegedly involved.

He also said that the decision taken at the meeting of the party's High Powered Committee has also been communicated to Congress President Sonia Gandhi's political secretary Ahmed Patel and Defence Minister A K Antony.Asked whether it was the end of the road for the seven-year-old DMK-Congress alliance, Baalu replied in the negative."We are all friends. We do not see the end of the road. Though we have withdrawn ministers our friendship will continue forever." he said.