Will announce LS probables in a few days: Alagiri

Talking to reporters at the party headquarters Sathyamurthy Bhavan on Sunday, Alagiri said, “We are yet to finalise alliance with a few other parties. 

We have already identified our 10 seats. After finalising of alliance with those parties, we will announce our seats in a few days.” The Congress party had submitted a wish list of 20 constituencies to the DMK while signing the poll pact for 10 seats.

Asked about the ruling BJP forging a multi-party alliance with the AIADMK in the state, Alagiri said, “Some cyclones are forecast to be strong, but they weaken and drift away without a trace. BJP is one such. The party will never make an impact in Tamil Nadu. Never will the BJP have a strong position in Tamil soil.”

Incidentally, the Congress has overpowered the BJP in seat sharing negotiations. The Congress party would be contesting twice the number of seats than the BJP, which has only been allotted five seats by the ruling AIADMK. 

Unlike the BJP which has assured to support the AIADMK in the 21-seat Assembly bypoll, the Congress would be contesting in the ensuing bypoll in those seats it had contested in the company of the DMK in 2016.

Calling upon the Congress cadre to reach out to the people with committed programme of welfare and development as envisaged by the party president Rahul Gandhi, Sanjay Dutt, secretary, AICC, said Rahul had exposed the failed governance and corruption of the BJP and its ally the AIADMK. 

He was interacting with Congress committee workers in Thoothukudi on Sunday after having convened the party’s election preparatory meeting with presidents of Thoothukudi district and the party cadre.

“There is a mood for change in the country as witnessed in the recent elections held in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. Now, the wind of change has reached Tamil Nadu as well,” Dutt told reporters here.

With a renewed sense of optimism and confidence, the Congress, DMK and its allies would win from all 39 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu with the support of people in the upcoming elections, he said.

It would happen for sure to make the dream of people come true of seeing Rahul Gandhi as the next Prime Minister, he added.

Hitting out at the BJP, Dutt said that all corrupt parties had came together to promote and protect their corruption. The BJP at Centre has a doctorate in committing corruption and the AIADMK is no exemption as Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister and every Minister of various portfolios were embroiled in some corrupt scams, he said.

He also took a dig at PMK for demanding the dismissal of BJP and AIADMK government on corruption charges and later making an about turn to align with the two parties. These corrupt parties were answerable to the people, Dutt added.

Meanwhile, Congress working president and Nanguneri MLA H Vasanthakumar said it was obvious that vote bank percentage of the AIADMK has come down significantly in the wake of alliance with the PMK and he ruled out any possibility of AIADMK’s victory in the ensuing polls. 

Since last week, the PMK made harsh criticism against the AIADMK and even released a book with inputs of allegations corruption allegations against several Ministers of the AIADMK and their possible jail terms.

To a query, Vasanthakumar said since the DMDK has about 2 to 2.5 per cent of vote bank, most of the parties were seeking the DMDK’s alliance. However, he said the DMDK is expected to ally with the Congress–DMK alliance. Further, he said announcement on constituencies for parties is expected in three or four days.