LTTE FRIEND VAIKO GOPALASWAMY WITHDRAWS HIS SUPPORT FROM MANMOHAN SINGH LED UPA GOVERNMENT

By Walter Jayawardhana

The Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) led by Velupillai Prabhakaran’s friend and maverick politician Gopalaswamy Vaiko on Friday withdrew his support from the United Progressive Alliance government led by Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh.

The last act he did for the LTTE before withdrawing from the government was to represent matters to the Prime Minister against Sri Lanka “falsely alleging Sri Lanka Navy” that the navy had killed a Tamil Nadu fisherman and injuring several others by shooting.

The Sri Lanka government said it was an act of the LTTE to harm Indo Lanka relations. With the resignation of Vaiko the Tamil Tigers has lost a direct open friend in side the New Delhi government.
The strong friendship between Vaiko and the LTTE has led other South Indian politicians, like Subramanyan Swami to believe that his party is being run by LTTE funds.

With the resignation the four MDMK members will cease supporting the Congress led United Progressive Alliance UPA government in New Delhi.

At the zonal conference of the MDMK at Coimbatore the party passed a resolution accusing the UPA government of neglecting rights of Tamil Nadu in Various South Indian river water disputes. Tamil Nadu is having water sharing disputes with Kerala, Karnataka, Andra Pradesh and Orissa.
Vaiko’s problems with UPA started with his disputes with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi.

His waning influence in the UPA government was seen when he failed to obtain an audience for the LTTE proxy party MP’s of the Tamil National Alliance with the Prime Minister. But when they turned to Karunanidhi, who allegedly supports the LTTE only discreetly , the the TNA got an audience with , Man Mohan Singh, a matter that made possible the once humiliated parliamentarians to brag about after coming home.

The unlikely ally of the MDMK in the Tamil Nadu assembly is Jayalaitha Jeyaram led All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) although the party leadership is virulently opposed to the LTTE. Vaiko’s trouble as an ally of the ruling DMK started after the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections of May 2006. Under Karunanidhi’s influence he was never invited to UPA meetings thereafter.

But while he was supporting the government and alleging genocide against the Sri Lanka Tamils the UPA government was providing training for Sri Lanka Air Force and Police personnel in India. He was powerless to do anything regarding that.