TNA leader has ignored plantation Tamils

Minister Chandrasekeran:

M.P. Muttiah

Upcountry People's Front Leader and Community Development and Social Inequity Elimination Minister P. Chandrasekeran said casting votes for candidates who cannot win the Presidential Election is a wasteful exercise.

He said it would not bring any benefit to the Tamil community.

Referring to the statement by TNA leader R. Sambandan, the UPF leader said he had failed to include the plantation Tamils. Thousands of displaced upcountry Tamils had been permanently settled in the North and East. "Apart from that more that more than half of the IDPs in welfare camps during the last phase of war were upcountry Tamils," he said.

"Tamils of the North, East and the plantation should convey their unanimous support in one voice. he said in a statement.

The UPF has declared its support to President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the Presidential Election.

The Minister further added that the Tamil organizations in the North and East should not commit the historical blunder of rejecting the plantation community. The TNA had clearly explained the blunder made by Tamil parties at the last Presidential Election. "Such a mistake should not occur this time," he said.

He called on all minority parties to rally round under one banner. "If we commit a blunder now the destiny of our people will not be written by us, but by somebody else ushering a bleak future," Chandrasekeran added.