Karunanidhi bats for secular front, does not rule out DMK heading a ‘bigger alliance’

TRICHY: DMK chief M Karunanidhi on Sunday said his party will head a Progressive Front in Tamil Nadu for the Lok Sabha election which will comprise allies that shun communal forces and embrace secular principles. Giving enough indication that he was not averse to accommodating more parties in a DMK-led alliance, Karunanidhi said, “Whichever party accepts the conditions we lay down, they will be a part of this winning alliance led by the DMK.” Karunanidhi said parties that desire to be a part of the DMK-led alliance should also endorse its ideologies of social justice and reservation in education and jobs.
Significant, however, was Karunanidhi’s remark that parties desiring to be a part of the DMK-led front should also support the Sethusamudram Shipping Canal project, the party’s mascot scheme. By batting for the project and making support for it a pre-condition for potential allies, he could well be sending out a signal for the inclusion of Congress in a DMK-led formation. The UPA government has been a strong proponent of the Sethusamudram project, which has been strongly opposed by the BJP and the AIADMK on environmental grounds.
DMK ally and VCK leader Thol Tirumavalavan told reporters recently that when he met Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi to hand over a memorandum on the Sri Lanka issue, the AICC vice president confided in him that the Congress has been keen on putting together a Secular Front that would include the DMK and its allies, besides the DMDK, to take on the BJP in Tamil Nadu.