PMK miffed as TN Govt hikes fee of tech colleges

The Pattali Makkal Katchi, alliance partner in UPA at the Centre and DPA in Tamil Nadu, has accused the DMK of flouting ‘alliance dharma’.

The Pattali Makkal Katchi, alliance partner in UPA at the Centre and DPA in Tamil Nadu, has accused the DMK of flouting ‘alliance dharma’. The PMK is miffed by the state Government’s announcement regarding fee hike in self-financing engineering colleges, which the party staunchly opposed.

On Thursday, even as the party held a public meeting to discuss recommendations made by Justice N V Balasubramaniam Committee, and was planning to apprise the Government about the outcome of the meeting so that fee hike could be avoided, the state Government went ahead in announcing an almost cent per cent fee hike.

The PMK has now decided to organise protests against the hike, in consultation with other parties.

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Talking to mediapersons here on Friday, PMK founder S Ramadoss, the fiercest critic of the state Government, alleged that the DMK was taking unilateral decisions on important issues without consulting allies and was expecting the partners to toe its line. “When I raise these issues, I am called a betrayer,” he added, referring to earlier spats he has had with the DMK leadership, including Chief Minister and party president Karunanidhi.

Though providing outside support to the DMK to form the Government, the party is severely critical of both DMK and the state Government. In fact, it was the first to oppose land acquisitions for a satellite city outside Chennai and airport expansion. It attacked the state Government for its policies on liquor trade. Even as the allies celebrated and congratulated the state Government after it completed two years recently, Ramadoss awarded ‘failed’ when asked by the media to evaluate its performance.