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Will stay in UPA with bitterness: Karunanidhi
After threatening to pull out of the UPA govt over petrol price hike, DMK supremo M Karunanidhi did a U-turn, saying he never made such a threat.
Zeenews Bureau
Chennai/ New Delhi: Hours after he issued a veiled threat to the UPA government, DMK supremo M Karunanidhi on Monday did a U-turn of sorts by denying that he ever threatened to pull out of the Congress-led government at the Centre.
Earlier today, Karunanidhi, while addressing party cadre had said, “We will stay with them (UPA) only till it is possible. If it is not possible, then we will go our separate way and stress our policies.”
Soon afterwards, DMK’s parliamentary party leader TR Baalu met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the national capital and expressed his party’s displeasure over the Rs 7.50/litre hike in petrol prices. As per reports, the Congress party expressed its displeasure over Karunanidhi’s strong statement – something which the party feels was unnecessary at this juncture.
Within minutes of the developments in Delhi, Karunanidhi issued a clarification that he never threatened to pull out of the UPA government at the Centre.
“Prime Minister is looking into the matter and has promised action…can’t say if we will quit if there is no rollback,” he said. The DMK chief said his remarks were distorted by the media, while asserting, “We will be in alliance with bitterness; won`t threaten government with Presidential elections around the corner.”
Karunanidhi’s conciliatory tone was in variance to his earlier hard stand. “Coalition is different. Being part of the coalition has not prevented us from protesting anti-people policies. If our basic principles are threatened we would persuade the centre to correct it," the former Tamil Nadu chief minister had said.
The DMK protest comes two days after the ruling AIADMK held a similar agitation demanding a rollback.
The DMK-sponsored agitation will also target the AIADMK government led by J Jayalalithaa for not rolling back the hike in milk prices, power tariff and bus fares.
The DMK`s decision to hold a protest a day ahead of opposition sponsored Bharat Bandh on May 31 comes amid growing protests against the Rs 7.50/litre hike in petrol prices which has also been opposed by Trinamool Congress, another key regional ally of UPA.
Chennai/ New Delhi: Hours after he issued a veiled threat to the UPA government, DMK supremo M Karunanidhi on Monday did a U-turn of sorts by denying that he ever threatened to pull out of the Congress-led government at the Centre.
Earlier today, Karunanidhi, while addressing party cadre had said, “We will stay with them (UPA) only till it is possible. If it is not possible, then we will go our separate way and stress our policies.”
Soon afterwards, DMK’s parliamentary party leader TR Baalu met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the national capital and expressed his party’s displeasure over the Rs 7.50/litre hike in petrol prices. As per reports, the Congress party expressed its displeasure over Karunanidhi’s strong statement – something which the party feels was unnecessary at this juncture.
Within minutes of the developments in Delhi, Karunanidhi issued a clarification that he never threatened to pull out of the UPA government at the Centre.
“Prime Minister is looking into the matter and has promised action…can’t say if we will quit if there is no rollback,” he said. The DMK chief said his remarks were distorted by the media, while asserting, “We will be in alliance with bitterness; won`t threaten government with Presidential elections around the corner.”
Karunanidhi’s conciliatory tone was in variance to his earlier hard stand. “Coalition is different. Being part of the coalition has not prevented us from protesting anti-people policies. If our basic principles are threatened we would persuade the centre to correct it," the former Tamil Nadu chief minister had said.
The DMK protest comes two days after the ruling AIADMK held a similar agitation demanding a rollback.
The DMK-sponsored agitation will also target the AIADMK government led by J Jayalalithaa for not rolling back the hike in milk prices, power tariff and bus fares.
The DMK`s decision to hold a protest a day ahead of opposition sponsored Bharat Bandh on May 31 comes amid growing protests against the Rs 7.50/litre hike in petrol prices which has also been opposed by Trinamool Congress, another key regional ally of UPA.