DMK out (for now); weaker government stays in office
DMK submits letter to President withdrawing support to UPA; party ministers to tender resignations on Wednesday
First Published: Tue, Mar 19 2013. 11 30 AM IST
A file photo of DMK chief M. Karunanidhi. Photo: Mint
Also Read
Updated: Wed, Mar 20 2013. 10 25 AM IST
New Delhi/Chennai: For much of its second term in
office that started in 2009, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) has
been in crisis mode, and it went into another on Tuesday when a key
constituent, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), withdrew its support,
weakening the government’s ability to pass key items of legislation and
take decisive steps to revive a faltering economy, although there is no
immediate danger to its continuance in power.
The
DMK, which is the second largest constituent of the Congress-led
coalition, with 18 representatives in the Lower House of Parliament,
pulled out on account of New Delhi’s stance on human rights violations
by the Sri Lankan government against an ethnic Tamil minority, but threw
a lifeline to its larger partner when its leader M. Karunanidhi
said it would reconsider its decision if Parliament adopts a resolution
before 21 March incorporating the two amendments he had suggested to be
moved on the US-backed resolution at the United Nations Human Rights
Council in Geneva.
Late
on Tuesday, DMK leader T.R. Baalu submitted a letter to the President
withdrawing support to the government. He said DMK’s ministers will
submit their resignations on Wednesday.
The
UPA said there is no threat to the government’s stability and expressed
its willingness to accede to the DMK’s demand for a resolution in
Parliament. The government’s optimism received a boost when its
so-called friendly parties, the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan
Samaj Party (BSP), indicated that they would continue their issue-based
support to it.
“Let
me assure everyone that the stability of the government and the
continuation of the government are not an issue. The government is
absolutely stable and enjoys majority in the Lok Sabha,” finance
minister P. Chidambaram told reporters outside Parliament.
SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav
told reporters in Parliament House, before the DMK submitted the letter
to the President: “No one has pulled out; this is only to blackmail the
government. It is stable.”
BSP chief Mayawati said: “The UPA government is not in a minority; we will support it.”
Political
observers say that even if the government may not fall immediately,
mainly because no party is ready for a snap poll, the reducing majority
will create a crisis. The DMK’s move comes in the middle of a deep
economic crisis and when the government is struggling to contain high
inflation and revive a sagging economy. Opposition parties, however,
said the country is heading for an early poll, although analysts put
this down as a stock reaction that lacks conviction.
“The government does not have a majority now. It should go,” Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said. Asked whether the BJP is ready to face the electorate, he said, “We are always ready to face the elections.”
The next Lok Sabha election is scheduled in 2014.
“The
Indian government has not considered any of the DMK’s recommendations.
And it has also diluted America’s draft resolution,” Karunanidhi’s
statement issued in Chennai said. “There is no benefit in this to the
Sri Lankan Tamils whatsoever, and it would be an injustice to the Tamil
race if we continue to give our support to the UPA government.”
The
DMK said the government should adopt a resolution in Parliament seeking
amendments to what it said was the diluted version of the US-sponsored
resolution. The DMK has demanded the inclusion of the term “genocide”
and called for a “credible independent international probe into the war
crimes” in the resolution.
The
UPA has been in a minority in Parliament since another ally, the
Trinamool Congress, pulled out in September. In the Lok Sabha, of which
the current strength is 540, the government has 231 members and it
relies on the support of 49 others, including the SP’s 22 members of
Parliament and the BSP’s 21 for the smooth functioning of Parliament.
Chidambaram, who along with his cabinet colleagues defence minister A.K. Antony and health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, met Karunanidhi to discuss the DMK’s demands, said the government “is in consideration” of its ally’s demands.
Sonia Gandhi,
president of the Congress party that leads the UPA government, in an
address at a Congress parliamentary party meeting on Tuesday morning,
said her party demanded an independent inquiry into alleged human rights
violations in Sri Lanka. She didn’t comment on the DMK pulling out of
the UPA government.
Savithri
Kannan, a Chennai-based political analyst, said the DMK’s move was an
attempt to regain its political credibility and relevance in the state’s
politics. “Right now, there is a competition between political parties
in Tamil Nadu to see who will show more sympathy towards Sri Lankan
Tamils, and the DMK wants to win that competition,” Kannan said pointing
out that three cabinet ministers came down to discuss the issue with
the former chief minister. “Even after Karunanidhi issuing threats,
letters and three central ministers coming to visit him, the Centre has
not examined his recommendations, and for Karunanidhi, that is a matter
of his pride. Unless, the Centre includes some of his suggestions, the
DMK may not get back with the UPA,” he said.
Experts
also pointed out that there has been an increasing influence of the
regional forces on the country’s foreign policy. West Bengal chief
minister Mamata Banerjee’s influence had sunk the signing of the Teesta water-sharing pact between India and Bangladesh.
Lalit Mansingh,
a former foreign secretary, said: “The time has come when we recognize
that we are in an era of coalition politics, and so states and their
views have to be taken into account.”
“But
having said that, foreign policy is the responsibility of the central
government as per the Constitution, and on foreign policy issues, it can
compromise only up to a point. This has to be conveyed to the states
that a line has to be drawn. In this case, I don’t think the DMK is
justified, though they are concerned about the plight of the Tamils,” he
said.
Elizabeth Roche in New Delhi contributed to this story.
A file photo of DMK chief M. Karunanidhi. Photo: Mint
Also Read
Updated: Wed, Mar 20 2013. 10 25 AM IST
New Delhi/Chennai: For much of its second term in
office that started in 2009, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) has
been in crisis mode, and it went into another on Tuesday when a key
constituent, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), withdrew its support,
weakening the government’s ability to pass key items of legislation and
take decisive steps to revive a faltering economy, although there is no
immediate danger to its continuance in power.
The
DMK, which is the second largest constituent of the Congress-led
coalition, with 18 representatives in the Lower House of Parliament,
pulled out on account of New Delhi’s stance on human rights violations
by the Sri Lankan government against an ethnic Tamil minority, but threw
a lifeline to its larger partner when its leader M. Karunanidhi
said it would reconsider its decision if Parliament adopts a resolution
before 21 March incorporating the two amendments he had suggested to be
moved on the US-backed resolution at the United Nations Human Rights
Council in Geneva.
Late
on Tuesday, DMK leader T.R. Baalu submitted a letter to the President
withdrawing support to the government. He said DMK’s ministers will
submit their resignations on Wednesday.
The
UPA said there is no threat to the government’s stability and expressed
its willingness to accede to the DMK’s demand for a resolution in
Parliament. The government’s optimism received a boost when its
so-called friendly parties, the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan
Samaj Party (BSP), indicated that they would continue their issue-based
support to it.
“Let
me assure everyone that the stability of the government and the
continuation of the government are not an issue. The government is
absolutely stable and enjoys majority in the Lok Sabha,” finance
minister P. Chidambaram told reporters outside Parliament.
SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav
told reporters in Parliament House, before the DMK submitted the letter
to the President: “No one has pulled out; this is only to blackmail the
government. It is stable.”
BSP chief Mayawati said: “The UPA government is not in a minority; we will support it.”
Political
observers say that even if the government may not fall immediately,
mainly because no party is ready for a snap poll, the reducing majority
will create a crisis. The DMK’s move comes in the middle of a deep
economic crisis and when the government is struggling to contain high
inflation and revive a sagging economy. Opposition parties, however,
said the country is heading for an early poll, although analysts put
this down as a stock reaction that lacks conviction.
“The government does not have a majority now. It should go,” Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said. Asked whether the BJP is ready to face the electorate, he said, “We are always ready to face the elections.”
The next Lok Sabha election is scheduled in 2014.
“The
Indian government has not considered any of the DMK’s recommendations.
And it has also diluted America’s draft resolution,” Karunanidhi’s
statement issued in Chennai said. “There is no benefit in this to the
Sri Lankan Tamils whatsoever, and it would be an injustice to the Tamil
race if we continue to give our support to the UPA government.”
The
DMK said the government should adopt a resolution in Parliament seeking
amendments to what it said was the diluted version of the US-sponsored
resolution. The DMK has demanded the inclusion of the term “genocide”
and called for a “credible independent international probe into the war
crimes” in the resolution.
The
UPA has been in a minority in Parliament since another ally, the
Trinamool Congress, pulled out in September. In the Lok Sabha, of which
the current strength is 540, the government has 231 members and it
relies on the support of 49 others, including the SP’s 22 members of
Parliament and the BSP’s 21 for the smooth functioning of Parliament.
Chidambaram, who along with his cabinet colleagues defence minister A.K. Antony and health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, met Karunanidhi to discuss the DMK’s demands, said the government “is in consideration” of its ally’s demands.
Sonia Gandhi,
president of the Congress party that leads the UPA government, in an
address at a Congress parliamentary party meeting on Tuesday morning,
said her party demanded an independent inquiry into alleged human rights
violations in Sri Lanka. She didn’t comment on the DMK pulling out of
the UPA government.
Savithri
Kannan, a Chennai-based political analyst, said the DMK’s move was an
attempt to regain its political credibility and relevance in the state’s
politics. “Right now, there is a competition between political parties
in Tamil Nadu to see who will show more sympathy towards Sri Lankan
Tamils, and the DMK wants to win that competition,” Kannan said pointing
out that three cabinet ministers came down to discuss the issue with
the former chief minister. “Even after Karunanidhi issuing threats,
letters and three central ministers coming to visit him, the Centre has
not examined his recommendations, and for Karunanidhi, that is a matter
of his pride. Unless, the Centre includes some of his suggestions, the
DMK may not get back with the UPA,” he said.
Experts
also pointed out that there has been an increasing influence of the
regional forces on the country’s foreign policy. West Bengal chief
minister Mamata Banerjee’s influence had sunk the signing of the Teesta water-sharing pact between India and Bangladesh.
Lalit Mansingh,
a former foreign secretary, said: “The time has come when we recognize
that we are in an era of coalition politics, and so states and their
views have to be taken into account.”
“But
having said that, foreign policy is the responsibility of the central
government as per the Constitution, and on foreign policy issues, it can
compromise only up to a point. This has to be conveyed to the states
that a line has to be drawn. In this case, I don’t think the DMK is
justified, though they are concerned about the plight of the Tamils,” he
said.
Elizabeth Roche in New Delhi contributed to this story.
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