New Delhi/Chennai: Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger guerrillas are once again at the heart of a row between Tamil Nadu's ruling DMK party and the Congress.

Chief Minister and DMK patriarch M. Karunanidhi has expressed his disgust over the stand of the Congress, some of whose leaders have accused him of going soft on those in Tamil Nadu allegedly sympathetic to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) .

In an unusual outburst, Karunanidhi on Sunday described as "untrue" allegations that his government was allowing the LTTE to have a free run in Tamil Nadu. He asserted that 92 people linked to the LTTE had been arrested in the past 20 months that the DMK has ruled the state that is separated from Sri Lanka by a strip of sea.

Alleging he "suspected a conspiracy" to destabilise his regime, he reacted angrily: "Our self-respect is dearer than the crown of thorns that denotes power. We are ready to lose power if (our self-respect) is under threat."

Karunanidhi was reacting to statements made by union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and Minister of State E.V.K.S. Elangovan. The two are reported to have said that Tamil Nadu had become a hunting ground for the LTTE and the state government was doing nothing to stop it.

There are enough reasons for Karunanidhi to get the heebie-jeebies when this sort of talk gets under way. In the past, his governments have been sacked after fights with ruling parties in New Delhi. Now, however, while a section of the Congress is going overboard to assuage the DMK's feelings, another is doing the exact opposite.

Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi downplayed the differences saying the two parties were allies both in Tamil Nadu and in New Delhi. On his part, Chidambaram has denied making the any statement critical of the DMK. Elangovan has, however, kept mum.

Last week, the Congress followed the AIADMK when its legislators walked out of the assembly on the issue of the DMK government's alleged sympathy for the LTTE.

"We cannot and will not tolerate Tamil Nadu becoming a base for the LTTE. One must remember that this terrorist organisation assassinated our former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi," said Congress leader Peter Alphonse within the portals of the secretariat.

Karunanidhi has reasons to worry. A section in the Congress in Tamil Nadu has been pressing the party to break the alliance with the DMK and tie up with former chief minister and AIADMK leader J. Jayalalitha.

Not only is Jayalalitha more vociferously anti-LTTE, which is outlawed in India, but the Congress withdrew parliamentary support to the centre-Left United Front government in November 1997 after the Jain Commission of inquiry pointed to the DMK's closeness to the LTTE over the Rajiv Gandhi assassination.

It took years for the DMK and Congress to mend their fences.

Realising the long-term danger to the DMK-Congress ties, Singhvi said in New Delhi: "Karunanidhi is a valued coalition partner. There are absolutely no differences. Whatever issue is there will be sorted out amicably between valued partners without any interference of any outsider, be it even the media."

Source : IANS