Live Updates: DMK quits govt over Sri Lankan Tamils issue

Hardening its stand on the Lankan Tamils issue, the DMK on Tuesday decided to pull out of the UPA government at the Centre for allowing the "watering down" of the US resolution against Sri Lanka at the UNHRC and not taking the party's suggestions into consideration.

A day after three senior Union ministers - AK Antony, P Chidambaram and Ghulam Nabi Azad met him, DMK chief M Karunanidhi on Tuesday snapped his party's nine-year long association with UPA and also decided to withdraw his ministers from the government.

After chairing an emergency meeting of TESO, a pro-Tamil organisation revived by Karunanidhi in 2012, a combative Karunanidhi charged the Mamnohan Singh government with not only allowing "watering down" of the US resolution against Sri Lanka at the UNHRC but also not even considering any of DMK's suggested amendments to that resolution.

"When a situation has been created that will not benefit Ealam Tamils, it will be a big harm to the Tamil race for DMK to continue in government. (therefore) it has been decided that DMK will withdraw from the cabinet and the coalition," he said in a statement.

Asked whether his party would extend outside support to the Centre, he emphatically said, "Ethuvum kidayathu" (nothing). DMK has 18 Lok Sabha MPs, one Cabinet minister and four junior ministers.