2009 Poll Prospects And Alignments-2

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<b>Karunanidhi keeping options open on alliance: Ramadoss</b>

Villupuram (PTI): Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's reluctance to snap ties with Left parties even after they withdrew support to the UPA, shows the DMK leader has kept his options open to align with the UNPA, PMK leader S Ramadoss on Thursday said.

Talking to reporters at Thailapuram near here, Ramadoss said Karunanidhi had stated in Delhi the alliance with Left parties would continue in the state. "This clearly shows he has kept his options open," Ramadoss said.

If he wanted to continue in the Congress-led UPA, he should have shut the doors for Left parties in the state. "Instead of doing so, he had said that Left parties were still part of DPA in the state," he said.

The DMK had already snapped its ties with the PMK in June, signalling a new political alignment in the state. However, the two parties continue to be part of the UPA even after the ties were severed.

Ramadoss, who had been favouring an alliance with the Congress in Tamil Nadu for the coming polls, said his party wanted to bring a Congress rule in the state after four decades.