Will DMK sever ties with Congress in 2014?

CHENNAI: The DMK-backed Tamil Eelam Supporters Organization (TESO) on Sunday demanded the UPA government at the Centre pilot a resolution in Parliament seeking an international probe into alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka.

Political observers said it was a calculated move by the DMK to distance itself further from its former UPA ally and signal a possible re-alignment in the approach to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

Given the tone and tenor of the five resolutions passed at the TESO meet and a recent remark by DMK chief M Karunanidhi that he did not exactly relish the prospect of allying with the Congress for the general elections since it had not heeded the appeal to boycott the Commonwealth summit, there is a clear indication of a growing divide between the parties.

The meeting, chaired by Karunanidhi, was attended by party leaders M K Stalin and T R Baalu, besides Dravidar Kazhagam president K Veeramani and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi leader Thol Thirumavalavan, among others.

"Thirumavalavan told Kalaignar (Karunanidhi) that if we're going to align with the Congress for the Lok Sabha elections then these strong resolutions may affect our poll prospects," a TESO member said. "But Kalaignar simply smiled back and retained all resolutions."

A senior Congress leader in the state feels TESO passed a resolution that sets an unrealistic condition for the Centre to comply with. "Adopting a resolution against another country in our Parliament isn't possible," he told TOI. "The BJP and other opposition parties were opposed to country-specific resolutions when a similar demand came from the DMK in March. I think they're preparing their ground for the Lok Sabha elections without aligning with the Congress. But we aren't worried."

One of the resolutions lauded the tough message from British Prime Minister David Cameron that his country would be forced to call for a transparent and independent international investigation should the island nation fail to conduct a credible probe into human rights abuses in Sri Lanka before March 2014.

Other resolutions reflected anger at India's participation in the Commonwealth meet in "utter disregard" of the TN assembly's call for complete boycott of CHOGM and the killing of 880 Tamil fishermen by the Sri Lankan army, besides reiterating the demand for implementation of the 13th constitutional amendment to ensure devolution of powers to northern and eastern provinces, and condemning the state government for demolishing the compound wall of the Mullivaikal memorial for LTTE fighters in Thanjavur.