Will support DMK in November 19 polls: Congress

“Our alliance with DMK continues. The two seats were to be contested by them (DMK) earlier and the Tiruparankunram segment too were marked for them. We will support the DMK in the upcoming polls,” Thirunavukkarasar told media persons at Sathyamurthy Bhavan on Thursday morning, after holding consultations with his predecessor EVKS Elangovan and former union minister P Chidambaram. 

His reiteration about the alliance has silenced critics, who were kept busy by his pro-AIADMK statements. Thirunavukkarasar’s relationship with the DMK high command came in for criticisms after reports suggested that Congress national vice president Rahul Gandhi’s Apollo visit happened only after the TNCC chief had secretly met an influential member of the ruling dispensation. The clandestine meeting was understood to have happened a day after Thirunavukkarasar’s eventful rendezvous with DMK treasurer M K Stalin during which the latter had reportedly advised the TNCC chief to go it alone in the local body polls, if they were unhappy with the numbers (seats) allotted to them. DMK had allotted a meager 10 per cent and less seats to Congress in local body polls, which, eventually got cancelled by the Madras High Court. 

An unhappy Thirunavukkarasar later unilaterally declared that they would hold fresh seat sharing negotiations with the DMK. He rubbed the DMK on the wrong side again on CM’s hospitalisation issue by stating that the demand to appoint an interim chief minister, as sought by the DMK, was unnecessary. Even before the dust on that issue settled, Thirunavukkarasar sprang another surprise by going to New Delhi to meet Rahul Gandhi on the same day the Dravidian major, along with farmer’s associations, staged rail roko statewide. It was then the DMK pulled up its socks and expressed its displeasure with the AICC, which, in turn, summoned and gave a piece of its mind to Thirunavukkarasar and Elangovan, apparently, to keep the Dravidian ally in good humour.