Rajini’s mention of PC’s push to end Dravidian rule angers DMK cadre

By naming former union finance minister P Chidambaram, the actor-politician has only angered the already frustrated DMK men. In trying to justify his disinterest in chief ministership, Rajinikanthi said that former prime minister Narasimha Rao, G Karuppaiah Moopanar and P Chidambaram were among the leaders who had encouraged him to take the political plunge to end the reign of the Dravidian parties. That Chidambaram was among the leaders who had prescribed the defeat of ‘Dravidian’ parties has increased the anger quotient of DMK cadre.

Adding to the discontent they have been harbouring against Congressmen, especially Chidambaram since the 2G imbroglio, Rajini’s statement did not help the Secular Progressive Allianceeven a wee bit.

“We are not surprised. We knew that some Congress leaders see the alliance with us (DMK) as a marriage of convenience. Rajini’s statement has revealed that they were in this mindset for long. By dropping names, Rajini has revealed the true colour of a few people in that party,” said a DMK senior who did not wish to be named.

The DMK senior did not mind adding that they deal mostly with the AICC because they were apprehensive about ties with a few state Congress leaders.

However, not all were apprehensive of the bare all statement of the actor. “Probably, they were in that mindset then. We should understand that the revival of DMK-Congress ties happened nearly a decade later. The rise of Sonia Gandhi scripted a whole new chapter in our ties. It has been a different story since UPA-I. Indeed, it reversed during the fag end of UPA-II. We set it right a few years later,” a DMK leader reasoned, before recalling the reunion with Congress in 2016 and success in 2019Lok Sabha polls.