The Hindu : Front Page : Accord on portfolios not honoured: Karunanidhi

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Tuesday, May 25, 2004

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Accord on portfolios not honoured: Karunanidhi

By Our Special Correspondent

DISCORD AMONG ALLIES: DMK president M. Karunanidhi displays at a press conference in Chennai on Monday the portfolio allocation agreement he signed with the Congress leader, N. Janardhana Reddy. — Photo: K. Pichumani

CHENNAI, MAY 24. While promising continued support to the United Progressive Alliance Government, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president, M. Karunanidhi, said today that the party's seven Ministers would assume office on the basis of the decision of the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, on reallocation of portfolios.

Mr. Karunanidhi said he was hopeful that a solution would emerge soon and asserted that this would not ruin the relations between the alliance partners. "Let us have only positive thoughts," he added.

The Prime Minister had spoken to him in the morning and had asked for 10 days' time to find a solution. He had not suggested any alternative. But the DMK was open to a dialogue, Mr. Karunanidhi said.

Though the DMK leader absolved the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, of any role in the fiasco saying that she was the leader of the major alliance party, he held "a coterie" close to Ms. Gandhi and Dr. Singh responsible for the change of portfolios. "People like that being around Sonia and Manmohan is not correct." He, however, refused to name them and said that he was not sure who exactly was responsible.

To a question, Mr. Karunanidhi said he agreed that the crisis did not augur well for an alliance embarking on the mammoth task of ruling the country. Likening the problems to birth pangs, he said that in a way it was good that such problems were being raised since these could be attended to straightaway. But the DMK was not in any way threatening the Government since it "did not have a tradition of holding out threats."

At a crowded press conference today, Mr. Karunanidhi showed a copy of the agreement that he had signed with Congress leader Janardhana Reddy. According to the agreement, the Ministry of Surface Transport, including the Departments of Shipping and Highways, was to have been allocated to T.R. Baalu. Also, S.S. Palanimanickam was to take charge as the Minister of State for Finance (with the charge of the Revenue Department). S. Regupathy was to get charge of the Personnel Department and Internal Security as the Union Minister of State for Home.

The charge of Shipping, Finance and Personnel Departments were not given to the DMK despite the agreement, Mr. Karunanidhi said and added that he was pained over the development. The party had not been informed of the changes in portfolios beforehand, he said.

The DMK has called for a meeting of its 20-member high-level committee to discuss the issues. Reiterating that the stability of the Government was not at stake, Mr. Karunanidhi said that it was the DMK that took the initiative to put together the alliance here. During the campaign, the DMK and its cadre had put in 90 per cent of the total effort of the alliance. He was personally against the DMK being part of the UPA Ministry. Only because of the insistence of Ms. Gandhi, the CPI (M) general secretary, Harkishen Singh Surjeet, and the CPI leader, A.B. Bardhan, did his party agree to join the Government, he said.

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