TN Congress clout weakens with loss in neighbouring state

DMK working president MK Stalin, who congratulated the BJP in haste, even going to the extent of calling BS Yeddyurappa the “CM designate” of Karnataka long before the Congress went into fire fighting mode and ‘sealed’ the deal with JD(S) in Bengaluru, interpreted the result as a ‘reminder’ that only if the leaders of all secular parties across the country come together and work, it would help unseat the communal BJP. Later in the evening, Stalin said the BJP will indulge in all forms of conspiracy to form a government in Karnataka. 

Responding to a query at Anna Arivalayam, Stalin said, “They will indulge in conspiracy. They (BJP) indulge in communal politics. They will dare to do anything (to form a government).” He reiterated that secular parties should come together to uproot a communal party like the BJP. When asked if Congress backed government would be formed in Karnataka, Stalin said, “As per democratic norms, the Governor should invite them. They (Congress + JDS) are waiting for his (Governor) invite.” 

Stalin, who has been hobnobbing with “like minded” regional players like Mamata Banerjee’s TMC and Chandrasekhar Rao’s TRS of late, was prodding Rahul Gandhi and company to prepare to make greater compromises to keep BJP out of power or rather to be in the reckoning in 2019. 

Even DMK leaders admitted that the working president was enjoining the Congress to be pliable like it was in UPA-I and not be belligerent as it was in UPA-II. It was not difficult to draw a parallel between the Stalin’s ‘reminder’ and Mamata’s reading that the Congress would have fared better if it had partnered with regional party JD(S) before the polls in Karnataka. 

Asked if the results have reduced the Congress stakes, an otherwise outspoken DMK principal headquarters secretary Duraimurugan told DT Next, “DMK never behaves like a big brother. It is still not clear how things would pan out there (Karnataka).” 

However, he did not mind adding that parties (regional ones) would negotiate based on their strength in respective states, apparently, indicating that they would show the Congress its place in Tamil Nadu. 

Dravidian scholar VM Subagunarajan said, “The Congress will not be able to drive a hard bargain like it did in 2011 and 2016. Like the TMC in Bengal or Omar Abdullah’s NC in Kashmir, the DMK is also eyeing a fair representation in the Parliament now. The DMK would want to contest maximum seats. It might accommodate a few smaller parties by apportioning a seat each. T

he Congress should be content if at all they manage to get seats in two digits from the DMK.” The BJP’s resurgence in Karnataka is also likely to encourage a reluctant Rajinikanth to hasten the process of floating the party and tempt him to reconsider the possibility of allying with an unpopular BJP in Tamil Nadu. 

That state Congress president Su Thirunavukkarasar, who forecast an upturn for Congress after Karnataka election, was resigned to his party’s defeat early in the day was proof of the fading hopes of the Congress in the state.