Chennai: DMDK, an ally of BJP-led NDA in the state, on Wednesday urged the Centre to find a permanent solution to the Sri Lankan Tamils issue and harassment of state’s fishermen, allegedly by the island nation’s navy.
“Though India magnanimously treats Sri Lanka as a friendly country, it, in turn, does not seem to be respecting India. The apprehension and assault of Tamil Nadu fishermen continues and we strongly condemn this,” a resolution adopted at a party’s high-level meeting chaired by its president Vijayakanth, said.
The party urged the Central and State governments to take steps to ensure that fishermen were able to pursue their profession without “intimidation” by the Sri Lankan navy. Another resolution asked the Centre to take steps to stop illegal mining of beach sand in the state.
The DMDK consultation meeting was convened to take stock of the party’s performance in the Lok Sabha polls, in which it had lost in all the 14 seats it contested, while its allies BJP and PMK managed to win a seat each.
In the meeting, DMDK candidates and district secretaries blamed the Election Commission’s failure to curb distribution of money to voters for the party’s poor performance in the election.
While addressing the meeting Mr Vijayakanth has come down heavily on the district secretaries for the poor show. He also had a separate meeting with all the 14 candidates to know their views on the party’s performance. Sources said a separate meeting of the district secretaries would be convened shortly to hear their views.
The party thanked the electorate for voting the NDA alliance to become an alternative political force in the state. A senior leader of DMDK said that there is no question of reconsidering ties with the BJP-led NDA alliance. “People have accepted the alliance as an alternative front for the AIADMK and DMK. We wanted to continue in it,” he pointed out.
