Karunanidhi,Jayalalithaa woo Tamil voters with promise of separate Eelam

Chennai, May 8 (ANI): With Tamil Nadu holding elections on May 13, both Chief MInister M.Karunanidhi and his key political rival and AIADMK chief J.Jayalalithaa are seeking to gain the maximum political mileage from the Lanka Tamil sympathy wave among voters in Tamil Nadu.

While Karunannidhi said on Thursday: "As a next step, they (Sri Lankan Tamils) should get Eelam and I assumed responsibilities of making all efforts to ensure that 'Eelam' is created," Jayalalithaa said: "I will work for that if the people of Tamil Nadu give the AIADMK Front all the seats from the state."

This is the second time that Jayalalithaa has raised the issue of a separate Eelam despite taking a contradictory stance in her party's election manifesto.

Addressing an election rally in Madurai on THursday, Jayalalithaa condemned the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government for being mute spectators to the plight of Tamil civilians in war ravaged Lanka.

Jayalithaa's statements came a few hours after Karunanidhi made a similar demand for a separate Tamil nation in Sri Lanka.

The two Tamilian leaders statements came as Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajpaksa said last evening ruled out any possibility of a cease-fire with the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE), adding that such step would be redundant as the latter would use the opportunity to rearm once again.

Addressing the diplomatic community in the Sri Lankan capital, Rajapaksa said that government troops are readying for a final assault on the LTTE, which he said was trapped along with its chief V. Prabhakaran.

According to a statement issued by his office, he said that there is a delay in launching the final assault as the LTTE is using thousands of Tamil civilians as human shields, and the government is determined not to hurt them as far as possible.

Sri Lankan forces are reportedly just 800 meters from the area where an estimated 10,000-15,000 Tamil civilians are trapped along with the top LTTE leadership.

Government troops pushed into the rebel-held village of Karayamulliavaikkal, advancing over areas heavily mined by the rebels and fighting off attacks from their suicide bombers.

A military spokesman said the troops had breached through the last earthen fortification bringing them as close as 800 meters of the area in Mullaitivu, where the LTTE leadership is holed up in the midst of Tamil civilians.

The LTTE rebels are deploying suicide bombers in the large numbers to slow down the Sri Lankan troop advance.

Though, estimates are not available, military sources say that between 500 to 1,000 hardcore black rebels have formed a last wall of defence around Prabhakaran and others.

Troops also found a huge cache of arms including assault rifles and radio communication sets. (ANI)