DMK Ministers Submit Resignations in Two Groups Due to Intra-Party Rivalry Between Karunanidhi’s Sons Stalin and Azhaghiri

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PRESS TRUST OF INDIA: A day after the DMK withdrew support to the UPA government on the Sri Lankan Tamils issue, the party’s five Union Ministers on Wednesday submitted their resignation to the Prime Minister amid speculation that party chief M. Karunanidhi’s son M.K. Alagiri was unhappy for not being kept in the loop.

Eyebrows were raised as Mr. Alagiri and D. Napoleon did not go along with other three Ministers S.S. Palanimanickam, S. Gandhiselvan and S. Jagatrakshakan to submit their resignation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at around noon at his Parliament House office.

Mr. Alagri along with Mr. Napoleon met Dr. Singh an hour later to tender their resignation fuelling speculation that he had reservations about how the decision was taken by the party.

The DMK, which formally ended its nine-year-old alliance with the UPA on Tuesday, has 18 members in the Lok Sabha and six MPs in the Rajya Sabha. The party ruled out supporting the UPA from outside or joining the BJP-led NDA.

Mr. Alagiri was holding the chemicals and fertilisers portfolio with Cabinet rank. Mr. Napoleon, Mr. Palanimanickam, Mr. Jagatrakshakan and Mr. Gandhi Selvan were Ministers of State.

“As per the decision taken by Kalaignar Karunanidhi, we have handed over the resignation letters to the Prime Minister,” DMK Parliamentary Party leader T.R. Baalu told reporters.

Asked whether the party will join the BJP-led NDA, Mr. Baalu, who accompanied Mr. Palanimanickam, Mr. Jagatrakshakan and Mr. Gandhi Selvan to meet the Prime Minister, said, “No… never”. Mr. Karunanidhi has ruled out outside support to the UPA government.

Meanwhile, DMK ally VCK’s leader and Lok Sabha MP Thol Thirumavalavan met President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday afternoon and handed over the letter withdrawing support to the UPA government.

“Our government is not supporting the cause of our Eelam Tamils (Sri Lankan Tamils). So, I took this decision,” he told reporters.

Mr. Baalu had met the President on Tuesday night to hand over letter of the DMK ending its alliance with the UPA.

The DMK, which was the second biggest constituent in the UPA, quit the alliance in protest against the government not taking up its concerns in the proposed U.N. resolution on Sri Lanka over alleged human rights violations against Tamils there.