PMK likely to go DMK way; NDA open to Amma

The Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) is likely to dump the NDA and jump across to the DMK-led front in Tamil Nadu on January 12, sources disclose...

The Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) is likely to dump the NDA and jump across to the DMK-led front in Tamil Nadu on January 12, sources disclosed here today.

PMK leader S. Ramadoss, who is scheduled to meet DMK leader M. Karunanidhi on Monday, has also convened a meeting of party functionaries that day where he is likely to obtain the endorsement to quit the coalition.

The two PMK representatives in the Government — MoS N.T. Shanmugham and A.K. Moorthy — will put in their papers on Tuesday. The DMK is learnt to have offered five Lok Sabha seats to the PMK, which has its base in the Vaniyar community.

Ramadoss’s embrace may prove counter-productive for Karunanidhi. DMK‘s Lok Sabha member S. Jagathrakshakan, who also belongs to the Vaniyar community, may try neutralising this gain by floating his own party at Salem on February 15. He is expected to join hands with AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa and BJP.

The BJP is keen on contesting 10 of the 39 LS seats on the premise that it has acquired a foothold among the Nadar and Brahmins. Jayalalithaa, on the other hand, is not prepared to part with more than six seats.

NDA convenor George Fernandes, when asked if any initiative had been taken to rope in Jayalalithaa, said: ‘‘No steps have been initiated but nothing can be said about future.’’ Meanwhile, the BJP took potshots at the Congress today. President M. Venkaiah Naidu sought an explanation from the Congress in view of what it had said about the DMK’s alleged links with the LTTE while pulling down the I.K. Gujral government .