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Chennai: The Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam (DMK) on Saturday decided to pull out of UPA Government at the Centre and withdrew its ministers from the Cabinet.

The DMK, however, said it will provide only issue-based support to the UPA Government.A DMK resolution, passed during the party’s high-level meeting in Chennai on Saturday, said, "the Congress does not want us to continue in the alliance"."The Congress’ stand does not help for an amicable poll accord. The Congress’ demand for 63 seats inspite of giving 60 clearly shows they don’t want us in the alliance. In this situation the DMK doesn’t want to continue in the Cabinet. Hence we have decided to pull out. We will however extend issue based support," the DMK said in its statement.

"The Congress stand surprises us," said DMK supremo M Karuanidhi at the DMK high-level meeting, adding, "We are compelled to suspect that these are all the efforts by Congress to remove us from the UPA. Under these circumstances we have to think whether to continue in the government."

"In the circumstances, we have to think whether to continue in the Union Government. So we have decided to relieve ourselves from the Government," Karunanidhi said.

Earlier on Thursday, the Congress shocked the DMK by demanding 63 seats after the DMK agreed to 60 out of 234 seats.

Union Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad - the Congress in-charge for the state - returned to Delhi without holding discussions with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi on Thursday.

The two parties have been meeting for the past 3 weeks to nail a seat-sharing agreement but in vain.

Karunanidhi issued a statement on the Congress-DMK seat sharing arrangement. "We finally agreed to give 60 seats to the Congress and this was finalised and conveyed to Ghulam Nabi Azad. Instead of signing the agreement, the Congress today called and demanded for 63 seats over the phone and that too all of their choice. Is this fair? We will decide the further course in the meeting," it said.

Meanwhile, the opposition AIADMK has stitched up its alliance with actor turned politician Vijayakanth’s DMDK.

With 18 MPs, the DMK is the second largest ally of Congress in the UPA after Trinamool Congress which has 19 MPs.

The DMK’s decision on Saturday puts the seven-year-old successful alliance between the two parties under severe strain ahead of the April 13 polls when it faces a tough challenge from rival AIADMK which has already tied-up with actor Vijayakant’s DMDK and Left parties.

The DMK-Congress alliance swept all the 40 Lok Sabha seats including the lone Puducherry seat in the 2004 elections and won 28 seats in the 2009 general elections. The combine also won the 2006 Assembly elections, though DMK could not get a majority on its own.