Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president M. Karunanidhi on Sunday said the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) would be part of the DMK-led front in the Assembly elections, but PMK founder S. Ramadoss was quick to clarify that his party was yet to decide on the alliance question.
“Besides the Congress, the PMK, the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), the Muslim League and the Puratchi Bharatham are in our alliance as of now. We are yet to hold talks with other parties,” Mr. Karunanidhi told journalists on his arrival in New Delhi to take part in the Chief Ministers' conference on internal security scheduled for Tuesday.
When asked about Mr. Karunanidhi's announcement, Dr. Ramadoss said, “The Chief Minister has expressed his desire that the PMK should be part of the DMK alliance.”
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“He can certainly express his desire. But we have not taken any decision on the alliance question for the Assembly polls. The issue is still under discussion at various levels of the party and a final decision will be taken only after the first week of February at our general council meeting,” he told The Hindu from Neyveli.
Dr. Ramadoss said he had also received feelers from other parties. Asked whether the “other parties” included the AIADMK, he declined to comment.
In New Delhi, Mr. Karunanidhi hinted that he would hold seat-sharing talks with Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his stay. He would also take up the issue of the Sri Lankan Navy's attacks onTamil fishermen.
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On whether the seat-sharing talks and identification of constituencies with the Congress would be completed during his stay in Delhi, he said, “I cannot say that now.”
Earlier this month, Mr. Karunanidhi had hinted at the return of the PMK into the DMK alliance. Though the PMK contested the election as part of the DMK-Congress combine in the 2006 Assembly polls, it subsequently switched camps in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, going with the AIADMK and losing all the seats it contested.