Polls, not Art 356 to decide Amma’s fate: DMK

Having been a victim of Article 356 twice in the past, the DMK has resolved to wait for the Assembly elections barely two years away. The DMK also lambasted its former ally, the BJP, for its Hindutva policy, and said it would fight the ‘‘Hindutva party tooth and nail’’.

The BJP’s stance on Hindutva at its recent national executive in Mumbai and later at its Goa conclave, which said that Hindutva and nationalism were the same, clearly bared the BJP’s intentions to pursue ‘‘Hindutva tactically, as and when it suited them’’. The party said it was its duty to oppose such forces.

In a key political resolution adopted at the special conference presided over by party president M. Karunanidhi, the party said that despite media reports that the BJP had sought to ‘‘downplay Hindutva’’ (after its Lok Sabha defeat), the BJP leaders’ subsequently articulated views made no bones of their adherence to the Hindutva agenda and hence ‘‘it is our (DMK’s) duty to oppose these forces with all the vigour at our command’’.

The DMK also opposed FDI in strategic sectors like Defence and print media. However, the party subscribed to the Left parties’ stand of ‘‘limited FDI’’ in employment-generating sectors. On the issue of disinvestment, it urged the Central and state governments to ensure that public services such as public transport, electricity and foodgrains distribution remained fully in the public sector.

In Tamil Nadu, PSUs like Hindustan Photo Films in Ooty, Salem Steel Plant here, IDPL in Chennai and Madras Fertilizers Limited should neither be closed down nor privatised, the party said.