MDMK pulls out of NDA govt

Grudging the central government's failure to check Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, Vaiko's MDMK has decided to pull out of the ruling coalition and called for a "greater Dravid consolidation" in Tamil Nadu.

Vaiko, who has been in jail as a Pota detenue, approved the decision taken at a meeting of the party's district chiefs in Chennai today.

The MDMK disapproved the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government's failure to amend the Prevention of Terrorist Act (Pota) to give relief to Vaiko, arrested under the Act for his pro-LTTE remarks.

The withdrawal of the DMK and the MDMK from the NDA is being seen as an index of growing disenchantment among NDA allies with the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Tamil Nadu unit.

All district presidents of the MDMK decided to follow the DMK, which broke off the NDA, accusing the BJP of making a tacit understanding with the Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK.

Immediately after the meeting, MDMK chairman L Ganeshan said two party central ministers""Gingee Ramchandran and M Kannapan""would meet Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee tomorrow and submit their resignations. "The decision will not be reversed," he said.

MDMK general secretary Vaiko had been informed about the decision, he added. Ramchandran and Kannapan would leave for Delhi this evening, he said.

With the MDMK's exit, the numerical strength of the ruling coalition has been reduced by 15 in the Lok Sabha.

While the DMK has 11 members in the Lok Sabha, the MDMK four. Though there is no threat to the Vajpayee government, the circumstances might force an alliance between the BJP and the AIADMK in the state.

That the DMK and the MDMK had taken objection to the BJP's overtures to Jayalalithaa was evident by the manner in which both the Dravidian parties attacked the state BJP leadership. Ganeshan said the DMK and the MDMK would work for consolidation of the Dravidian movement.

In fact, the DMK and the MDMK are relying on the assumption that Jayalalithaa had lost substantial ground in the state politics.

They are also expecting to reap a rich political harvest on account of persecution of DMK chief M Karunanidhi and languishing of Vaiko in jail.

Asked whether the MDMK would extend its support to the NDA from outside, as had been decided by the DMK, Kannappan said, "the support will be issue-based".

On his party's relationship with the BJP, Ganesan said, "our relationship was not very bad, but cordial, though there were some hiccups now and then".

Asked whether there were differences of opinion between the two ministers and the party cadres on the decision to pull out, Ganesan said the decision to pull out was unanimous and in a democratic party such as his, it was quite natural that "some difference of opinion" cropped up now and then.

On whether the MDMK took this decision mainly because the DMK took a similar stand, Ganesan said, "It is not the case. Even if it was so, it will not be incorrect". The decision to quit the NDA was taken at the "right time", he said.

On whether the MDMKwould merge with the DMK, in view of the improved relationship between the two parties, Ganesan said, "It is also an imaginary question. Karunanidhi had already said that both the DMK and the MDMK would function like the CPI and the CPI(M)."

BJP sources said after the DMK's exit from the NDA, the MDMK's decision was the logical outcome.

Though BJP spokesman Prakash Javdekar termed it "a sad development," the party does not see it as a set-back to the NDA's prospects in Tamil Nadu.

But the BJP is not yet open about forging an alliance with the AIADMK because of Jayalalithaa's unpredictable political behaviour.

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was particularly not comfortable with the idea of having an alliance with Jayalalithaa, sources said.

But a section of the BJP leaders feels Jayalalithaa's ideological proximity to the Sangh Parivar will make her a natural ally in future.