So long as differences on policy matters do not crop up, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) will not quit the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), DMK president M. Karunanidhi said on Friday.
Asked for his reaction to the decision of the Trinamool Congress to quit the UPA, Mr. Karunanidhi told reporters that whatever political formation the DMK was part of, his party would not leave it in haste or in anger. “We always preserve coalition dharma . We have been doing it,” he said.
“Our job is not to fill vacancies” was his reply when asked whether his party would take the offer of two ministerial berths in the Union Cabinet which remained vacant. However, it was up to the party executive and general council to deliberate on the issue.
On the Karnataka government’s refusal to release water even after a ruling given by the Prime Minister and Cauvery River Authority Chairman, the DMK leader said such a situation would continue until stringent action was taken or appropriate legal changes were made to resolve inter-State river disputes. It would not augur well for the Karnataka government to be inflexible.
When his party was in power, it held talks with the Karnataka government to seek Tamil Nadu’s share of water, he added.
