Karunanidhi slams Left, widens DPA rift

The Democratic Progressive Alliance in Tamil Nadu is dying an inevitable death following strong indications that the DMK and the Left...

The Democratic Progressive Alliance in Tamil Nadu is dying an inevitable death following strong indications that the DMK and the Left were going to snap ties, leaving the field open for fresh alliances before the general elections.

With Chief Minister and DMK president M Karunanidhi himself joining the battle of words with the Left parties on Friday, the indications are clear that one of them would officially declare snapping of ties soon, marking the end of an ambitious alliance, brought about by the common opposition to the BJP and AIADMK.

The state-level understanding became untenable after the July trust vote, and both CPI and CPI(M) were urging the DMK to snap ties with the Congress. The relations were further strained by rumours that the Left leaders had begun talking to AIADMK for a possible alliance.

A day after he advised restraint to his party leaders and cadres, Karunanidhi attacked CPI(M) secretary N Varadarajan for his statement cautioning DMK against continuing the alliance with the “sinking” Congress. “Did they know that the Congress was defeated in some of the state Assembly elections only now? If Congress party is a sinking ship, why did the Marxists continue on it till the Indo-US nuclear deal was signed?” Karunanidhi asked in his column in party mouthpiece Murasoli on Friday.

“Is it a possible electoral defeat that is making the Left break ties now? So, is the opposition to the nuclear deal just a reason for this end?” asked the Chief Minister in his column.

Peeved by the continuing tirade from the Communist parties against State Electricity Minister and senior party leader Arcot Veerasamy, even after he intervened in the issue, Karunanidhi said Varadarajan’s statement indicated that the Left had already taken a decision to move away from the alliance with the DMK, and that was why the parties were gradually launching tirades against the state Government through their dailies and public meetings.

Quoting from his recently released book Karunanidhi’s Assembly Speeches Volume I, he recalled a speech made in 2000 in which he accused the CPI of aligning with the “shadow organisations of the RSS like Jansangh, Kranti Dal and Akali Dal” in Punjab, UP and Bihar in 1967; a chapter from history dusted out to counter the allegations raised against DMK for siding the with the BJP to share power.