Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Wednesday offered support to his “brother” Rahul Gandhi and condemned the suspension of opposition MPs from the Lok Sabha amid a deadlock between the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the Congress over seat-sharing in the state ahead of assembly elections.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin. (File photo.) (PTI file photo)”Why is the central BJP government afraid of the questions raised by the Leader of Opposition and my brother Rahul Gandhi?” asked Stalin X.
“The government must be ready to answer the members of the House and provide clarity on national security and economic interests. I strongly condemn the suspension of the eight opposition MPs and demand that it be withdrawn immediately to restore their democratic right to speak on issues of national importance,” added the Chief Minister.
DMK MP Kanimozhi criticized the suspension, calling it “unacceptable”.
On Tuesday, eight opposition members were suspended from the Lok Sabha for the remainder of the budget session for violating rules and “throwing papers on chairs” over Gandhi’s strong reference to the 2020 standoff with China in eastern Ladakh.
Meanwhile, the DMK said it will form a seat-sharing committee this week and start talks with allies from the second week of February. To make sure, the Congress formed a party for the state last November.
Meanwhile, Kanimozhi chaired the party’s election manifesto committee meeting in Chennai on Wednesday. After the meeting, he told reporters that alliance talks with the Congress party were ongoing, adding that the decision on the number of constituencies would be taken by the negotiation committee and any new party joining the alliance would be announced by the chief minister.
“Alliance talks are currently going on with the Congress party. There has been no discussion on the number of constituencies. The negotiation committee will decide on the number of seats. The Chief Minister will announce if any new party joins the alliance,” he said.
On January 29, Kanimozhi held talks with Rahul Gandhi in Delhi to iron out differences between the two parties.
A senior DMK leader said the party is “willing to allocate more than 28 seats and one Rajya Sabha berth.”
“There are many allies and as always Congress will be allotted the maximum number of seats,” the leader added. The offer is slightly more than the 25 seats the Congress contested in the 2021 assembly elections, of which the party won 18.
However, the Congress is targeting 35-40 assembly seats, while a section unhappy with the few seats wants the party to align with actor Vijay’s Tamilga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK). The strains were openly visible with Congress leaders in the state aligning with Vijay and demanding more seats with the DMK. However, the high command decided to stick with long-term ally DMK. The final decision will be between Stalin and Rahul,” said a state Congress leader.
(with PTI input)
