Food ordinance: DMK keeps cards close to chest

Adopting a cautious approach, former UPA ally DMK today said the party's stand on the Food Security Ordinance would be made public when the legislation is taken up for discussion in Parliament.
DMK chief M Karunanidhi said he discussed with his party MPs the issue of Centre adopting the ordinance route to implement the Food Security Bill.
"The pros and cons of the ordinance should be looked at. I have discussed the matter with my party MPs and they will express party's views in Parliament during the debate," the 90-year-old leader told reporters here.
In first signs of a possible patch-up after its regional ally snapped ties with the UPA in March last over Sri Lankan Tamils issue, Congress had extended its support to DMK candidate Kanimozhi in the recent Rajya Sabha biennial polls, ensuring her re-election.

The Congress move triggered speculation that support to Kanimozhi was a quid pro quid for DMK's backing for the Food Security Bill. But both the parties have rejected any such arrangement and said the support was confined only to the Rajya Sabha polls.
Amid opposition to the bill, the Centre had opted for the ordinance which was signed by President Pranab Mukherjee today.
It has to be approved by the both houses of Parliament within six months of its promulgation.
When the bill was first tabled in Parliament in May, DMK Parliamentary Party leader T R Baalu had said the party had serious reservations over it.