Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader Kanimozhi Karunanidhi on Saturday asked Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to change her party’s seat order in the House, citing “changed political circumstances” following the Congress’s exit from the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance.
“I am writing to you to respectfully request appropriate changes in the seating arrangement of Members of Parliament belonging to the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in the Lok Sabha. In view of the changed political circumstances and with the end of our alliance with the Indian National Congress, it may not be appropriate for our members to continue to occupy the current seating arrangement alongside them in the House,” Kanimozhi said in a letter addressed to Birla.
Kanimozhi asked the Speaker to make arrangements for the allocation of separate seats for its members, saying this would enable them to effectively discharge their responsibilities in the Council.
The Congress on Wednesday ended its two-decade-long alliance with the DMK to support actor-turned-politician Tamil Nadu Vetri Kazhagam (TVK), pitching it as a move to keep out “communal forces that do not believe in the Constitution of India”.
The TDP criticized the Congress, accusing it of failing to change its “old political character” and shifting alliances despite gaining one Rajya Sabha seat and 28 Assembly seats under the SPA.
