S Ramadoss opens up, says let NDA announce PMK is not in its alliance

Opening up for the first time on the strained relations with NDA on many issues, PMK chief S Ramadoss on Sunday said he expects BJP-led National Democratic Alliance to formally announce that the PMK was not in the alliance any more.

“Instead of we ourselves getting out of the alliance, let them (BJP) announce it formally. That is what we are expecting,” he said in an interview to a private Tamil TV channel. He was responding to BJP Leader H Raja’s comments that the party’s central command would take appropriate action on PMK declaring that his son Anbumani Ramadoss would be the partys’ chief ministerial candidate for 2016 assembly polls.

Raja had recently told reporters in Chennai that the NDA’s state level ally PMK’s decision was against coalition dharma and that the BJP Central Command would take appropriate action.

To this, Ramadoss said there was no coalition dharma at all. If there was, they (NDA) should have conducted a public meeting along with alliance parties after the polls, he said.

“But they did not do so. BJP thinks the alliance ended soon after the completion of the Lok Sabha polls,” he said.

Reiterating that the party would lead a separate front in Tamil Nadu to contest the assembly elections in 2016, he said that apart from DMK and AIADMK, his party was ready to welcome other parties which accept their leadership for the polls.

“We are even ready to welcome BJP in our alliance,” he said.

Asked if it could still be said PMK was an ally with NDA at the national level and not in Tamil Nadu, he replied in the affirmative. “Yes, definitely. In the present situation we can only say that”.

Ahead of the April 24 Lok Sabha polls held last year, BJP had announced formation of a seven-party rainbow alliance in Tamil Nadu, in its first-ever such electoral venture in the state, where the turf has been largely dominated by DMK and AIADMK.