PMK extends support to Congress demand for power in TN

Chennai, Sep 22 (UNI) The Congress in Tamil Nadu, which had been seeking power share with the ruling DMK, received a shot in the arm with Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), an estranged ally of the DMK, supporting the demand of the Congress.

Talking to newspersons here today, PMK founder-leader S Ramadoss said it was only fair that the DMK shared power with the Congress.

Dr Ramadoss was reacting, when asked whether the Congress would manage to get share in power in the wake of Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's remarks that the DMK would consider, if the Congress high command came out with the plea for share in power.

He said he had been stating right from the beginning that the DMK should share power with the Congress. It was not fair on the part of the DMK to rule the State with just 96 MLAs, 21 MLAs short for simple majority.

As a quid pro quo, the Congress could share power with the DMK in the union territory of Puducherry, Dr Ramadoss suggested.

The PMK leader, who had been criticising the DMK government for the power crisis, sought the resignation of Electricity Minister Arcot N Veerasamy, for failing to tackle the crisis. ''Mr Veerasamy who could not make good the shortage of 600 MW of power, should accept his defeat and step down'', he added.

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