Chennai:  DMK chief M Karunanidhi has reportedly ruled out an alliance with the Congress for the Lok Sabha elections that are due in May next year. Mr Karunanidhi, sources say, said this at a meeting of the General Council, the party’s top decision-making body, in Chennai today.Sources say the 89-year-old patriarch told the Council that “the Congress betrayed the DMK in the 2G case and wasn’t supporting the Lankan Tamils issue as well.

“The party had aligned with the Congress in Tamil Nadu for the last two general elections in 2004 and 2009 but pulled out of the UPA coalition that the latter leads earlier this year over the Lankan Tamils issue. It blamed the government for failing to take a tough stand against Sri Lanka, accused of human rights violations and war crimes against the country’s Tamil population, at a United Nations session this year.Interestingly, the DMK veteran reportedly did not rule out a tie-up with the BJP.

“The party had an alliance with the BJP when a wonderful person like Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister… but if you ask me whether we have such leaders now, I would say no,” Mr Karunanidhi reportedly said.

He later said that the party resolution, which would be released soon, would spell out the party’s stand.
The DMK’s move is significant in that it comes just days after the Congress suffered a humiliating rout in the assembly elections in four states where the BJP emerged as the winner.

Parties like the PMK and the Vaiko-led MDMK in Tamil Nadu have already hinted at a tie-up with the saffron party which has been boosted by the strong showing in the recent polls that have been viewed as a semi-final ahead of 2014.