DMDK meet hints at continuing in NDA combine

Coimbatore: BJP's lead ally in Tamil Nadu, the DMDK, on Wednesday indicated it was continuing in the NDA coalition, with the party's key decision-making bodies skipping any reference to the issue.

Actor-politician Vijayakant-led Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam held meetings of its Executive and General Council here in which 23 resolutions were passed, but none, however, referred to staying in or quitting the alliance.

All eyes were on the main Opposition party in state Assembly since former NDA constituent MDMK had recently quit the BJP-led alliance while another ally PMK has turned critical, with some BJP leaders like Subramanian Swamy asking it to get out of the coalition.

Incidentally, no DMDK representative had reportedly met BJP national president Amit Shah during his first official visit here last month.

Some leaders of DMDK, which has 29 MLAs in the state assembly, are confident of the party putting up a better show in the 2016 Assembly polls.

One of the resolutions passed during the meet charged ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) with trying to get "political mileage" by criticising Centre on the issue of release of five Indian fishermen on death row in Sri Lanka for drug trafficking.

However, the state Assembly had earlier lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the NDA government for securing their release, the resolution said adding, "The General Council strongly condemns it."

On the proposed coal-bed methane project in Cauvery Delta, over which some parties had raised environmental concerns during last year's Lok Sabha polls, the party demanded that Centre and state government should allay apprehensions of the locals and farmers on its environmental impact and take a decision only after getting people's opinion.

DMDK also urged Karnataka and Kerala, which are at loggerheads with Tamil Nadu over inter-state river water disputes, to uphold unity and sovereignty.

Further, Centre should consult Tamil Nadu before granting approval to these states for any new water projects, it said.

A majority of the resolutions adopted by the party flayed the ruling AIADMK on many fronts, including law and order and price issues.

Addressing the meet, Vijayakant asked the party workers to strive hard to capture power in Tamil Nadu. Criticising the government and its alleged administrative lapses and corruption, he asked the party workers to meet the people across the state and work hard for capturing power. "We will and should continue our service to the people," he said.

Touching upon various corruption charges and allegations against the government, including pilferage of state-run Aavin milk, power purchase, granite scam, Vijayakant said "one should not involve in looting public money".

On Methane gas project in Thanjavur district, Vijayakant said since there were apprehensions among the farmers in the area, it was the duty of both the Centre and State to convince them before venturing into the project.