Tamil Nadu and Puducherry,which account for 40 seats in the Lok Sabha,will vote only in the last phase of the elections on May 13 but as news of the imminent fall of LTTE trickles in from across the Palk Strait,not many in the fray are willing to take a chance. Almost all political parties in Tamil Nadu have announced protests for the sake of Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka,the more virulent ones like MDMKs Vaiko even warning of a bloodbath if LTTE chief V Prabhakaran is harmed. The ruling DMK,while declaring thatit will not go back on its alliance with the Congress over the issue,is organising a protest rally tomorrow,demanding immediate ceasefire in Sri Lanka. Chief Minister M Karunanidhi has sent a telegram to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh it is also addressed to Congress president Sonia Gandhi,External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Home Minister P Chidambaram urging the Centre to intervene and save theTamil race from annihilation. Karunanidhi will himself lead the Tamils rally in Chennai and all likeminded parties are expected to participate. The DMK move seems to have been prompted by protests by the MDMK and PMK,among the most active parties campaigning on the issue. If Vaiko built MDMK mainly on the Sri Lankan Tamil platform,PMK has taken up the issue along with other pro-Tamil campaigns. Speaking at the protest march in Chennai today,MDMK founder Vaiko warned authorities not to disregard emotions over the ongoing war. Despite tall claims by the Sri Lankan government,Tigers of the LTTE are continuing their war against the government army there¿ If something happens to LTTE chief Prabhakaran,there will be bloodbath in Tamil Nadu, warned Vaiko. He has accused the UPA government of being a partner to the genocide in Sri Lanka. The DMK decision to hold a protest was ridiculed by Opposition leader and AIADMK general secretary J Jayalalithaa who claimed that the people of Tamil Nadu were prepared to get rid of the hand and DMK for abetting the killing of Tamils on the island. Though being the ruling parties in the Centre and the state,neither Congress nor DMK did anything to help the Tamils there,said Jayalalithaa in a statement today,adding that the Centre should press the Mahinda Rajapaksa government in Sri Lanka for an immediate ceasefire. DMK ally and pro-LTTE campaigner Thol Thirumavalavan of the VCK has,in the meantime,taken a step back from his belligerent anti-Congress stand,stating that Sonia Gandhi was in fact the last hope for the Tamils in Lanka. This is in sharp contrast to his earlier statements in which he vowed to defeat Congress candidates in the Lok Sabha polls. Much water has flown since then and Thirumavalavan himself is contesting as a UPA candidate in Tamil Nadu. VCK cadres will take part in the DMK-led rally tomorrow,said Thirumavalavan. The Dalit party,in the forefront of pro-Lankan Tamil agitations in the past,will also organise an agitation on Friday to press for ceasefire. With DMK,its parent organisation DK,VCK and several smaller parties on the one side and PMK,MDMK,CPI and other likeminded outfits on the other,the pro-Tamil bloc has been split vertically. On the other hand,there are anti-LTTE parties in both fronts. During this election,this means that neither alliance can claim to be the champion of the cause, said a senior politician. Despite this,all political parties are making the right noises to ensure their poll chances are not hit.
