CHENNAI: Senior Congress leader and former Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president KV Thangkabalu on Sunday (July 12) asserted that the Congress would never forge an alliance with either the DMK or the AIADMK in the future, and added that there would come a time when DMK does not exist in Tamil Nadu.
Addressing a party functionaries' consultation meeting in Salem, he credited Congress's support for the formation and stability of the Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) government and claimed that a majority of Congress cadres were unhappy with the party's previous alliance with the DMK.
When TVK president and Chief Minister Vijay launched his party, he had promised a share in power to alliance partners, Thangkabalu recalled.
"At that time, the present TNCC president B Manickam Tagore and I urged senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi that the party should align with TVK instead of the DMK, which had refused to offer a share in power. However, that did not happen then. Today, the present government could not have been formed without the support of our five MLAs," he said.
Thangkabalu expressed gratitude to TVK for recognising late chief minister K Kamaraj as one of its ideological inspirations.
He said Rahul Gandhi had supported the formation of the Vijay-led government and added that while the DMK had repeatedly claimed that the people of Tamil Nadu would never accept a coalition government, the electorate had delivered a verdict that enabled the formation of the TVK-led coalition. "That is the reason Congress is standing firmly with TVK in forming and sustaining this government," he said.
Claiming that Congress workers were uncomfortable with the DMK alliance, Thangkabalu said, "Even before the election, 99 per cent of Congress cadres did not want the party to continue in alliance with the DMK."
He further declared that the Congress would never enter into an alliance with either the DMK or the AIADMK in the future. "Every Congress worker is prepared to make sacrifices to protect the TVK government. The DMK would have formed an alternative government in Tamil Nadu if the Congress had delayed extending its support to the TVK by even a single day. The DMK cannot remain out of power because it survives on corruption and misuse of public money," he alleged.
Stating that the continuation of the TVK government was essential for the welfare of future generations, Thangkabalu claimed that the government had significantly reduced bribery in government offices within just 50 days of coming to power.