By IANS,
Chennai : AIADMK chief J. Jayalalitha Monday said Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi should resign if he is serious about alleviating the sufferings of the Sri Lankan Tamils.
“…he (Karunanidhi) should resign from chief ministership in Tamil Nadu as a matter of protest against what he calls the centre’s inaction and seek a fresh mandate,” she said here Monday.
The AIADMK and the Communist Party of India (CPI) will not be attending the meeting of all state party leaders Tuesday called by Karunanidhi to discuss “the worsening situation of minority Tamils in Sri Lanka”.
“Two members from each party that is represented in the assembly, including the leader and the head of its legislature, have been requested to attend. The meeting has been called following personal discussions with the PMK leader S. Ramadoss,” Karunanidhi told reporters here.
PMK sources told IANS that Ramadoss had agreed to attend the meeting.
Following differences on the Sri Lankan issue between the DMK and the Congress party, Karunanidhi is trying to build bridges with the PMK.
In the house of 235 members, DMK has 95 and is propped up by 35 Congress MLAs. The PMK has 18 members in the assembly.
Invitations for the meeting have been sent to leaders of all parties, including MDMK head Vaiko.
The PMK and MDMK have been demanding that Sri Lanka ensure that no member of the minority Tamil community in the country is killed during military action against the LTTE.
This is the second meeting of political parties called by Karunanidhi. The earlier meeting in October, demanding proactive action by India to force Colombo to halt military operations against Tamils and stop military aid to Sri Lanka, had resulted in a unanimous resolution by all political parties represented in parliament to resign from their seats by Oct 29.
Though all the MPs of the ruling DMK in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha had handed in their post-dated resignations to the chief minister, these were not forwarded to the relevant authorities following a meeting between Karunanidhi and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Oct 26.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa visited New Delhi earlier this month and ruled out cessation of the war against the LTTE but promised to avoid killing of Tamil civilians and safeguard their interests.