Karuna's dramatic U-turn: Says he never threatened to quit

Hours after making a statement that he would pull out of the UPA government if it continued with its anti-people policies, DMK leader Karunanidhi backtracked saying that he never threatened to quit. “We can’t say we will quit if there is no rollback of petrol prices. We never threatened to pull out of the UPA. Communal forces will enter government if we quit” he said, at a hastily convened press conference in Chennai. [caption id=“attachment_325896” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Karunanidhi says he never threatened to pull out of the UPA: Reuters”]  [/caption]Earlier Karunanidhi created a media frenzy when he said, ““If this government continues to violate the fundamental principles of the Dravidian movement, we will have no hesitation in separating from the UPA alliance”. He added that his party had walked out of alliances, “whether it be the BJP (led NDA) or while being in the VP Singh cabinet.” Responding to the statement, Congress spokesperson Renuka Chowdhury said the DMK was a valuable ally and said that the Congress did not see Karunanidhi’s statement as a threat. She explained that the government had no choice but to increase petrol prices given the volatile global economic situation. Meanwhile DMK senior leader TR Baalu had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and expressed his displeasure at the petrol hike. The Prime Minister had reportedly told Baalu that he was looking into the matter and had promised action.