CHENNAI: The uncertainty in the four-party People's Welfare Alliance (PWA) about taking part in an all-party meeting convened by the DMK to discuss the Cauvery river water sharing dispute continued despite hectic parleys that went beyond midnight to keep the coalition intact.
"We have time till daybreak to discuss and decide," said VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan on his party's decision about attending the all-party meeting at DMK headquarters, Anna Arivalayam, on Tuesday.
Emerging from a 90-minute long meeting at MDMK general secretary Vaiko's Anna Nagar residence at 12.45 am on Tuesday, Thirumavalavan and Vaiko parried questions from reporters who had followed the latter throughout the day as he met his party colleagues, and leaders of the other two alliance partners - the CPM and CPI.
Both leaders said they would announce the decision on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Congress splinter Tamil Maanila Congress' founder-leader GK Vasan said his party would participate in the meeting.
The PWA is facing serious internal strains over the meeting, a demand that VCK has been raising for long but without any response from the AIADMK government. What has made the party upset is the alleged unilateral announcement by Vaiko, the coalition coordinator, that they would not be part of the meeting. Sources said the matter was discussed but never decided upon.
Earlier in the day, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president S Thirunavukkarasar trained guns on Vaiko, advising him to stay away from making unnecessary comments and attaching motive to the all-party meet called by DMK.
"It was Vaiko who announced that PWA will boycott the meeting. Each party has its own right to decide on the matter," he told reporters on Monday morning.
On an issue like this, he added, that it was better to avoid criticising the initiative to convene all the parties.
The PWA was formed ahead of the May 2016 Assembly polls as an alternative to the two Dravidian majors, the ruling AIADMK and the principle opposition DMK. But it fared poorly, lacking the organisational setup or mindspace of the primary players in Tamil Nadu's political arena.