Days after pullout,M K Alagiri skips crucial DMK meeting

The DMK executive committee meeting was overshadowed by the absence of M K Alagiri

The DMK executive committee meeting on Monday was overshadowed by the absence of party president M Karunanidhis elder son M K Alagiri,who is reportedly sulking for not being consulted on the partys decision to pull out of the UPA government at the Centre.

The DMK had convened the crucial meeting,the first after it decided to quit the UPA government over the Sri Lanka issue,to inform and ratify the decision,and also to discuss the way ahead for the party.

Sources said while most of the committee members supported the decision to snap ties,a few senior leaders pointed out that the DMK cannot allow communal forces and political rivals to exploit the situation.

The meeting,chaired by Karunanidhi,adopted a total of 16 resolutions,including the decision to pull out of the UPA government,opposing the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting CHOGM scheduled to be held in Colombo in November,opposing the GAIL pipeline through farmlands and issues concerning farmers and fishermen among others.

However,it was Alagiris absence that got more attention than the meeting itself. There was talk earlier that Alagiri was likely to skip the meeting to convey his displeasure over the partys decision that was influenced,if not scripted,by his younger brother,M K Stalin.

On Monday,Alagiri left Chennai for Madurai at around 8:30 am,just a few hours before the meeting was set to begin.

While party leaders downplayed the absence,Alagiri claimed that he skipped the meeting as he was unwell. Am I the only invitee who did not attend, the former union minister told mediapersons,when asked why he had stayed away.

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Alagiri had called on Karunanidhi yesterday and reportedly expressed his views on the issue. Last week,he had refused to accompany the other DMK ministers who tendered their resignations together. He had also met Congress president Sonia Gandhi,Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,and union ministers from the State,P Chidambaram and G K Vasan after quitting the cabinet.

Asked about his meeting with Congress leaders,Alagiri said today that he continued to have friendly relations with them.

Meanwhile,top Congress sources said in New Delhi that they had reconciled to the fact that the break-up with the DMK was now permanent and complete.

These sources said Karunanidhi had not indicated his decision to pull out of the UPA government when he met Cabinet Ministers A K Antony,P Chidambaram and Ghulam Nabi Azad in Chennai. The ministers had returned to Delhi with the impression that they had bought time for consultations within the Congress. But Karunanidhi announced withdrawal of support just as the briefings were on in Delhi.

With ENS inputs,New Delhi