CHENNAI: After trying to control the fire raging within the alliance over repeated demands from a section of Congress leaders in the State for share in power, the ruling DMK has decided to adopt another strategy: ignore them.
Meanwhile, seeking to fish in troubled waters, PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss said the friction may lead to the DMK ensuring the defeat of Congress candidates so that the latter won’t be in a position to seek share in power.
Actively pushing back at the demand, perhaps for one last time, DMK organising secretary RS Bharathi said on Saturday that it would respond only to Congress leaders.
“We will not respond to anyone except Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge and TNCC president K Selvaperunthagai. Only they have the authority to speak on this, not others. As such, there is no need to be perturbed and offer answers to others,” he said, in response to a question from the media about Congress Whip in Lok Sabha, Manickam Tagore, and All India Professionals’ Congress Professionals’ chairman Praveen Chakravarthy relentlessly persisting with this.
Recalling Chief Minister and DMK president MK Stalin’s earlier remarks, Bharathi said the party president had made it clear that coalition governments were not suited to the Dravidian political ethos. He added that the Congress was aware of this position and that the DMK’s alliance with the party remained strong, citing Stalin’s personal rapport with Rahul.
Earlier in the day, Tagore reiterated the demand for a share in power, describing it as legitimate and a matter to be decided by the people. In a social media post, which came after Minister RS Rajakannappan asserted that the party would contest 170 seats and win at least 160, he pointed out that the DMK had contested 173 seats in the 2021 Assembly election and won 133. The Congress was not being unrealistic in seeking more seats, he added.
Commenting on the feud, Anbumani claimed there were visible frictions within the DMK-led alliance. Addressing party functionaries in Sholinganallur, he cited differences among the DMK, and its partners, Congress, VCK, and MDMK, and alleged that the DMK may try to outmanoeuvre its ally to deny it a share in power.