DMK withdraws from UPA, but govt safe

DMK ready to reconsider its decision if Parliament adopts resolution before March 21

The Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam (DMK) on Tuesday withdrew from the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), claiming UPA had betrayed the Tamils of Sri Lanka with its soft approach towards the Mahinda Rajapakse-led government in that country. The party’s five ministers, including one of Cabinet rank, are likely to tender to the prime minister their resignations from the government tomorrow morning.

Though the numerical majority supporting the ruling coalition in the 540-member Lok Sabha remains unassailable, DMK’s action makes the government more vulnerable to the parties offering it support from outside. The Samajwadi Party (22 MPs) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (21 MPs) — now UPA’s principal partners, but holding no ministerial berths at present — could exert unfettered influence on the government, which might fall if one of the two were to withdraw support.

A meeting of three top UPA ministers with DMK chief M Karunanidhi yesterday had made the government believe there might be a window for compromise and negotiation. But the celebrations in Tamil Nadu by mid-evening among DMK cadre suggested the break was inevitable. (HOW NUMBERS STACK UP)

“Since it would be a big harm to (the) Tamil race if DMK continues in the central government when a situation has been created which won’t benefit Eelam Tamils, DMK has decided to immediately pull out of the Union ministry and UPA,” Karunanidhi said, reading out from a statement in Chennai.

DMK’s withdrawal came even as the government was drafting a resolution, to be passed by Parliament, which Karunanidhi’s party would have likely endorsed. This would have been India’s authoritative position at the United Nations Human Rights Council, scheduled to discuss on March 22 the human rights violations in Sri Lanka.

Earlier in the day, DMK had announced its conditional withdrawal, saying it would wait to see what the resolution read. This made Finance Minister P Chidambaram assure the government was working on a draft resolution that would be stronger. He had also reminded reporters that the Appropriation Bill (the Budget) had been passed in the Lok Sabha on Friday, implying if DMK really wanted to embarrass the government, it would have voted against it; it didn’t.

However, around 10.30 pm, DMK leader T R Baalu met President Pranab Mukherjee and handed in the letters withdrawing support.
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MPs, especially of the Congress, expressed their reservations about country bashing through politics of resolutions. “We would not like that the resolution our government moves should be country-specific. If we trash an elected Sri Lankan government in our Parliament, what would stop them from trashing us?” an MP asked. Another said it was fine to talk about the Tamil sentiment, but no one could deny the Indian Army’s sacrifices in Sri Lanka against the very set of people DMK was now defending. A minister recalled that an Indian prime minister had been assassinated by “Tamil terrorists”. “Does DMK really think it will get support by recycling LTTE rhetoric,” he asked.

The Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), too, made it clear it was not interested in becoming part of DMK’s politics. However, the Congress had, in a way, seemed considerate about DMK’s feelings earlier in the day. The party’s president, Sonia Gandhi, mentioning the Tamil issue, had said: “The plight of Tamils is very close to our hearts,” adding: “We demand an independent and credible inquiry into the violation of human rights in Sri Lanka.”