Amid Congress chorus for 'share in power,' DMK says 'no' to coalition government

Dindigul (Tamil Nadu): Ruling out scope for a coalition government, senior DMK leader and State Minister I Periyasamy on Sunday asserted that Chief Minister M K Stalin is firm on the stand against sharing power with allies.

Speaking to reporters here, Periyasamy, when asked on Tamil Nadu Congress's demand for share in power, he said it was the right of the grand old party to make that demand.

However, the DMK had never been in favour of such a proposition. "There had never been a coalition government," he said, adding the state had all along been helmed by the DMK on its own.


"There is no doubt about this stand of the party, there will be no coalition government and the chief minister is firm on this stand," the Rural Development Minister said.

To a question on CM Stalin's scathing criticism of the Censor Board, he alleged it was true that the film board functioned in a partial manner.

Tamil Nadu Congress has revived its demand for a share in power if the DMK-led alliance wins the Assembly election due by March-April this year.

Congress MP Manickam Tagore had said recently that it was time to debate "share in power."

CLP leader, Killiyoor (Kanyakumari district) legislator S Rajeshkumar had also batted for a coalition government.

Congress party in-charge for Tamil Nadu, Girish Chodankar had asked if any political party, "will say that they don't want the power; then we should name ourselves as NGO."

Since 1967, both the DMK and AIADMK had formed their own governments despite fighting polls in alliance with other parties. Following independence, when the first general election was held in the then composite Madras state in 1952, the Congress party failed to secure an absolute majority.

It was the only during the First Assembly's (1952-57) term that non-Congress leaders (including Manickavelu Naicker of the Commonweal Party) were accommodated in the Congress-party led State Cabinet.

In 2006, though the DMK did not have an absolute majority, it ran the government for a full five years (2006-11) with support from allies, including the Congress and without sharing power with allies. Without any success, the TN Congress leaders had made the same "share power with us," demand during 2006-11 term of the DMK too.