With the continuing war in Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi has convened an emergency all-party meeting, the third such meeting in two months, on Tuesday. Addressing the media here on Monday, Karunanidhi said letters had been sent to leaders of all parties in the state to attend the meeting and put forth suggestions to end the Lanka crisis. While the Centre has met most of the demands raised at the last all-party meeting convened by the Chief Minister on October 14, the foremost demand for a ceasefire has been ruled out by the Lankan Government. Karunanidhi said the state Government, after ascertaining the views of all parties, would approach the Centre again. He also urged MDMK general secretary Vaiko and presidium chairman M Kannappan — whom his Government had to book for seditious speeches in favour of the rebel LTTE recently — to attend Tuesday’s meeting. The political ramifications of the meeting are quite significant. Firstly, the meeting has been called on the same day as the statewide bandh was announced after an earlier all-party meeting convened by the CPI. More importantly, the meeting signals a thaw in the relationship between the DMK and the PMK. After the PMK was eased out of the Democratic Progressive Alliance for being highly critical of the DMK Government, the two parties were engaged in a verbal duel. However, the changed political scenario in Tamil Nadu where the Left parties — at least the CPI — and BJP are considering the AIADMK as a possible alliance partner and a section of ally Congress turning critical, the DMK had indicated its willingness to join hands with the PMK again.
