The largest ally in Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s ruling coalition said it was withdrawing support following a dispute over alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka, weakening the government a year before a general election.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, one of nine parliamentary partners in the governing alliance, said it would end backing for the federal government ahead of a United Nations vote on the Sri Lanka issue in Geneva. The southern state where the DMK is based shares cultural and religious links with Sri Lankan Tamils.
“This is a serious threat but there are talks going on behind the scenes and the government may be able to take care of their concerns,” said Satish Misra, an analyst at the Observer Research Foundation, a policy group based in New Delhi. “If the DMK pulls out then the government is going to be severely weakened.”
The DMK has 18 lawmakers in the 545-member lower house of parliament in New Delhi. Without the DMK, Singh’s ruling alliance would be 44 seats short of a majority and more reliant on the support of smaller regional groups to pass legislation.
The ally’s threat comes as Singh battles to refocus the government ahead of elections and repair a slowing economy after being damaged by a series of corruption allegations.
To contact the reporters on this story: Bibhudatta Pradhan in New Delhi at bpradhan@bloomberg.net; Andrew MacAskill in New Delhi at amacaskill@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Peter Hirschberg at phirschberg@bloomberg.net
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