DMK president M. Karunanidhi on Sunday made it clear that his party would not seek more berths in the Union Cabinet.
Reacting to media speculations about his party’s stand vis-à-vis the proposed Cabinet expansion, Mr. Karunanidhi said no one from the DMK would join the Ministry. Two of the DMK’s Cabinet Ministers in the UPA government, A. Raja and Dayanidhi Maran, resigned in the wake of the 2G spectrum scam and the party has so far not sought replacements for them. M.K. Alagiri is the only Cabinet Minister from the DMK and the party has four Ministers of State.
Mr. Karunanidhi, who is also the chairman of the Tamil Eelam Supporters Organisation (TESO) said the presence of Sri Lankan military in Tamil areas would be discussed at the TESO meeting to be held on October 3.
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He said the Tamils held a demonstration in Kilinochi on September 27, demanding withdrawal of the Army from their areas. “But it fell on the deaf ears. We will discuss the issue in the TESO meeting,” he said.
As regards the State Electricity Minister’s allegation that the Centre had betrayed Tamil Nadu when it came to allotting more power, Mr Karunanidhi said Chief Minister Jayalalithaa used to blame the DMK government for the power shortage and now her Minister was blaming the Centre after he had given a detailed explanation on the efforts taken to augment power supply.
He said the AIADMK government had in a short span of one year and a half shifted four officers from post of TANGEDCO chairman.
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“Not all officers can be expected to work at someone’s whim. The government should learn to respect the feelings of the officials. You cannot place them on a par with partymen,” he said.