New Delhi | The DMK was on Thursday given approval to sit separately in Lok Sabha, away from the erstwhile ally Congress, which has become part of the recently formed TVK-led government in Tamil Nadu, official sources said.
Last month, the DMK sought a change in seating arrangement for its MPs in the Lok Sabha, saying their alliance with the Congress has ended and it would not be appropriate for its members to sit alongside those of the Congress.
The DMK has been given approval by the Lok Sabha secretariat to sit separately in Lok Sabha, official sources said on Thursday.
A separate sitting arrangement for the Tamil Nadu-based party is being worked out, the sources said.
The move came after DMK leader Kanimozhi Karunanidhi wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla for changing the seating arrangement in view of the changed political circumstances.
The DMK is also unlikely to attend the opposition INDIA bloc meeting to be held here on June 8.
The Congress, which won only five seats in the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, has gone ahead in extending support to the TVK in government formation, thus putting an end to the alliance with its old ally DMK. The party has now become part of the TVK government.
The Congress had contested the assembly polls as part of the pre-poll alliance with the DMK. This has led to acrimony between the two parties with senior DMK leaders calling this action of the Congress "backstabbing" and "betrayal".
The Congress, however, justified its action, saying the DMK had also contested the 2014 election alone.
New Delhi | The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is unlikely to participate in the INDIA bloc meeting scheduled to be held in New Delhi on June 8, sources said on Thursday.
The party has said it would not take part in the meeting to be attended by around 15 opposition parties, including the main opposition Congress, according to the sources.
Senior leaders of the opposition INDIA bloc are scheduled come together and discuss their joint strategy to take on the BJP-led government and reinforce opposition unity.
TMC supremo and former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge are among those likely to attend the meeting, as per the sources.
The development follows a dramatic shift in Tamil Nadu's political landscape after the Assembly elections, when the Congress parted ways with its long-time ally, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), and backed the government led by actor-politician C Joseph Vijay and his party, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK).
The realignment brought an end to years of Congress-DMK collaboration and led to an exchange of barbs between the two parties.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has already publicly distanced itself from the bloc and is not likely to attend the meeting, scheduled to take place at the Constitution Club.
