DMK will leave United Front govt, support UF from outside
The United Front government confronted yet another crisis
on Monday, with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam deciding
to pull out of the government and support it from outside.
DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister
M Karunanidhi said the Front had
become weak and an outlet for some people to settle personal scores.
He regretted that some UF leaders had given a go by to the Front's common
minimum programme and were trying to evolve their own
personal minimum programme by forging a "front within the Front".
Karunanidhi said his party is not willing to associate
itself with "some people's personal whims and some party's personal
minimum programmes."
The DMK has 17 members in the Lok Sabha, and its decision
has added a new dimension to the crisis in the United Front,
which is still reeling from the consequences of the split in the Janata Dal. The DMK has four ministers in the Gujral government -- Murasoli Maran, N V N Somu, T R Balu and T G Venkataraman.
"It is sad to see the Front being weakened," Karunanidhi said.
The Tamil Nadu chief minister said the DMK, though a regional
party, had functioned for the past half century on the principles
of "duty, dignity and discipline".
"The DMK feels like a fish out of water in the Front," he added.
Karunanidhi said the situation in the UF and the attitude of
certain leaders would not bring honour to the Front. "The United Front
is not moving in the direction set for it and there is no need to conceal
this aspect," he added.
Parties supporting the Front at the Centre were not
united in many states. In Tamil Nadu, he said the DMK and
the CPI-M were not allies. ''But in the past year
some leaders seem to have given the impression that the
two parties are allies," he stated.
''We were once Opposition parties. The people are now
watching how we discharge our role as ruling parties,'' the
DMK leader said, adding that "For some parties, one year appears
to be timeless."
The laudable objective for which the United Front was formed, Karunanidhi said,
had been forgotten and relegated to the background. The Front was formed to fulfill the aspirations of the people, he pointed out, and not for some leaders committing sati.
The people, he declared, would not pardon the DMK if the government were to
be reduced to a "joke or a circus". Hence, he said his party had been pushed to the brink of quitting the Gujral government and supporting it from outside till the situation
was set right.
When reporters asked him later whether his decision was irrevocable, all that Karunanidhi would say was, "I cannot tolerate the confusion in the United Front."
Reacting to the DMK's decision, the Congress ''most emphatically''
stated it would continue to support the I K Gujral government.
The DMK's move, party spokesman V N Gadgil said, would not
affect the stability of the United Front government.
''The DMK has decided to support the government from outside and
therefore, this development will not affect the government,'' Gadgil said.
''Our stand is irrespective of the stand taken by other parties.
We think that in the national interest and in the party's interest,
the Congress should continue to support the Gujral government,'' he
said.
Tamil Maanila Congress leader G K Moopanar said he was shocked by the DMK's decision to pull out of the United Front government. "I do not know why he (Karunanidhi) took the decision,"
he said. The TMC is the DMK's electoral ally in Tamil Nadu.
Moopanar said the DMK's decision was a serious matter and
would have serious consequences on the UF government.
The TMC leader said he had spent nearly an hour with Karunanidhi
at the state secretariat in Madras during the polling for the Presidential
election, but the chief minister did not give any indication of the
DMK's decision.
Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and UF convener Nara Chandrababu Naidu
termed the DMK's decision as "sentimental" and claimed it posed "no threat" to the coalition government.
Naidu, who is considered close to Karunanidhi,
said the UF core committee would meet soon to take stock
of the situation arising out of the DMK's decision.
He said he was in constant touch with UF leaders including Karunanidhi, to "find a solution".
RELATED STORY:
DMK wants to teach CPI-M a lesson
EARLIER STORY:
Karunanidhi blasts CPI-M, backs Laloo
|
