Chennai, Dec. 8: Vaiko, the first regional Tamil Nadu leader to hop onto the Narendra Modi bandwagon ahead of the general election, quit the NDA today equating the government's approach to Sri Lanka and interstate disputes to that of its UPA predecessor.
The MDMK chief - whose party has no MPs - has now walked out of every alliance he has been part of: a Jayalalithaa-led front in 1999, the NDA in 2004, a DMK-led grouping in 2006 and an AIADMK front again in 2011.
By doing so, he has reduced himself to a marginal player. His exits have hardly troubled any of his former allies or helped his party grow.
His party had contested seven Lok Sabha seats as part of the NDA last summer and failed to win any. Vaiko himself came second behind Jayalalithaa's candidate at Virudhunagar - his second successive defeat after 2009.
'Vaiko has become a single-agenda politician, blindsided by the Lankan issue. With the arrival of other pro-Tamil groups, his effectiveness on the issue has also come under a question mark,' a senior BJP leader said.
'His cadres have deserted him realising Vaiko is in no position to win votes. His departure will not affect the NDA one bit.'
State BJP president Tamilisai Saoundararajan said: 'His attacks on Modi appear motivated and his exit has only confirmed that. The BJP is not the loser in the process.'
An executive committee meeting of the MDMK today passed a resolution to quit the ruling alliance.
'Since the present NDA under Modi has not adopted the friendly and cooperative approach adopted by (former Prime Minister Atal Bihari) Vajpayee and (L.K.) Advani, the MDMK cannot continue to be part of the NDA any longer,' it said.
Vaiko has repeatedly faulted the Modi government's soft approach towards Colombo, starting with the invitation to President Mahinda Rajapaksa to attend Modi's swearing-in.
He has also criticised the subsequent friendly exchanges between the two countries and New Delhi's failure to stop attacks on Tamil Nadu fishermen by the Sri Lankan navy.
His party executive had described the recent release of five Indian fishermen from the death row in Sri Lanka as 'a drama enacted by Rajapaksa' rather than crediting the Centre's diplomatic efforts.
Instead, the MDMK wondered why Modi was silent on Subramaniam Swamy's recommendation of a Bharat Ratna for Rajapaksa.
Vaiko's party also alleged that the BJP-led government had not supported Tamil Nadu on the Mullaperiyar dispute with Kerala or the Cauvery dispute with Karnataka.
The MDMK's continuance in the NDA had become untenable after state BJP leader H. Raja had warned Vaiko that his party cadres would teach him a lesson if he continued to attack Modi.
Vaiko retorted that he would not remain silent at the Modi government's mistakes just because he was an ally. He will, therefore, have to find a suitable front to fight the 2016 Assembly elections.
