Chennai:
Fireworks at the DMK headquarters in Chennai this morning celebrated the announcement by president M Karunanidhi that the party was dropping out of the Congress-led UPA coalition.
The DMK says it cannot participate in a government that is unwilling to take a strong stand against Sri Lanka for what the DMK describes as "a genocide" against ethnic Tamil civilians. The party wanted the government to introduce stronger language in a resolution which will be voted upon later this week in Geneva by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). (
Read: Diluted US resolution forced DMK to act)
But many say Mr Karunanidhi's decision, allegedly shaped by his son, MK Stalin, is based not on Sri Lanka but on a 10-year partnership with the Congress with diminishing returns.
A party worker at the DMK headquarters said today, "This is the decision we've been waiting for. When the Congress doesn't respect Tamil sentiment, it is good to be rid of them. We can face the Lok Sabha polls confidently now."
The Congress-DMK alliance was forged in 2003 after Congress President Sonia Gandhi made a telephone call to Mr Karunanidhi on New Year's Day.
A year later, the collaboration had a dream run in the national election, winning all 39 parliamentary seats in Tamil Nadu.
But in 2009, the separatist Tamil Tigers were defeated by the Sri Lankan defence forces after a civil war that had lasted more than two decades. The DMK was in power in Tamil Nadu, and the Congress-led UPA was governing the country. Both were seen to have helped Sri Lanka against the Tigers. There were reports of mass killing of ethnic Tamil civilians.
In the national election that year, the alliance won 27 of the 39 parliamentary seats. Two years later, in 2011, in state elections, the DMK was routed and won just 23 seats in a 234 member house . For the first time the DMK could not retain the key opposition party status while out of power.
Ahead of the general election expected next year, sources in the DMK say the Congress feels like excess baggage.
Allegedly partial to that theory is MK Stalin, the younger son of the DMK president, who is also being projected as his father's successor. One party insider says "Thalapathi (General, as he's fondly called) is gradually gaining control of the party and he was very clear that it is time to part ways with the Congress, if it is not listening (to us)."
Mr Karunanidhi has suggested that he may return to the UPA if the government asks the UN to accuse Sri Lanka of genocide and demand an international inquiry into possible war crimes. He also wants a similar resolution be passed by parliament.
The government has said it is considering both options.
If Mr Karunanidhi decides against a reconciliation with the UPA, he can claim in next year's general election that his party sacrificed power for the Tamil cause in Sri Lanka. But he is certain to consider the impact of a break-up on the CBI investigation against his daughter, M Kanimozhi, and A Raja, his protege, both of who were imprisoned for allegedly accepting bribes from telecom firms, and are being tried in Delhi.