Southern States - Tamil Nadu   

TNCC for alliance with secular parties

By Our Staff Reporter

NAGERCOIL DEC. 27. The Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) will act in accordance with the party's central committee decision on forging an alliance with the regional parties; however, it favours an alliance with secular parties which have rejected the ``communal'' Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the TNCC president, G. K. Vasan, told reporters here today. He said the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), by distancing itself from the BJP, reestablished its secular credentials.

When newsmen persisted with the query whether the Congress would forge an alliance with the DMK, he said `the decision would be made at an appropriate time' but for now the party was gearing for the elections. He foresaw that the situation would be conducive to secular parties in the State aligning themselves and that these would draw the battlelines against the communal forces.

The feelings of the rank and file on the alliance issue would be conveyed to the high command. Faulting the State and Central Governments for ``failing'' to provide the required quantum of Cauvery water for Tamil Nadu, Mr. Vasan said both the Governments had not acted in the interests of the farmers. He also criticised the Karnataka Government for not being sympathetic to their plight.

They had begun samba cultivation on about eight lakh hectares but supply from the Mettur reservoir would last only for about a fortnight. For lack of water the farmers had left large tracts uncultivated and the grim situation would lead to a 41 per cent production loss, Mr. Vasan said and urged the Central and State Governments to secure water from Karnataka at the earliest.

The State Government should allocate more funds for completing the government medical college at Asaripallam at Nagercoil and for improving services in the Primary Health Centres (PHCs) throughout Tamil Nadu. On the frequent wrangles between Tamil Nadu and Kerala fishermen, Mr. Vasan sought the State Government's intervention to resolve the issue.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Orders on IMFL, sand quarrying cases on Monday
• Provide social security to fixed-term contract employees: Centre
• Vedic conference in Madurai
• Bharathidasan varsity to introduce paper on environmental studies
• `Help set up Hindu religious society'
• Disaster management control rooms soon in hazard-prone districts
• `DMK decision a turning point'
• Defamation case against DMK political speaker
• Clarification
• `Integrated approach needed to provide facilities for visually impaired'
• Nitish Kumar to inaugurate broad gauge section
• Thanjavur-Kumbakonam gauge conversion before Mahamaham
• CJP will wait and watch
• TNCC for alliance with secular parties
• Fight NDA regime's wrong policies, CPI(M) tells DMK
• Fairs a forum for exchange of ideas: Governor
• Autonomy for Colleges: Panel to suggest steps to speed up process

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu