The political row between the Congress and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) erupted further on Sunday with Congress MP Manickam Tagore alleging that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) acted as a mediator between the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and the DMK to prevent Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) president C Joseph Vijay from becoming chief minister after TVK’s landslide election victory. Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections.
Both the Congress and the DMK contested the recently held Assembly elections as allies, and this is seen as the first public spat between the two parties, indicating deepening fissures.
Tagore claimed that the DMK and AIADMK had a common goal of preventing TVK chief C Joseph Vijay from becoming the chief minister of the southern state.
Recalling the events on May 4 – when the Assembly poll results were announced, Tagore said: “As soon as the election results came out on May 4, around 3 pm, a call came from the BJP central leadership in Delhi, which led to a conversation between the AIADMK and the DMK.”
“The two Dravidian parties discussed the possibilities of making AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami the chief minister and DMK giving outside support, so that TVK chief (Vijay) does not become the chief minister,” he said.
“…Around 5 pm on May 4, a meeting was held in the national capital in which opposition leader Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Karg participated. In that meeting, Girish Chodankar, an official of the All India Congress Committee in Tamil Nadu, explained the situation in Tamil Nadu,” he added.
However, late on May 5, the PAC held a meeting, and on May 6 the Congress decided to support Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam, he said.
Attacking former DMK deputy chief minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, Tagore said the Congress supported him when he was made a minister after he became an MLA for the first time and later became deputy chief minister.
“Congress leaders and supporters stood by him. But he forgot that and made these comments. This is what we call ingratitude. He should have measured his words while speaking. However, he said things against Congress unnecessarily, and Congress men know how to hit them back,” he said.
“The person who initiated the conference call between the AIADMK and the DMK is the BJP. As far as Udhayanidhi Stalin is concerned, he ignored all the principles of the DMK and was keen to join the AIADMK,” he added.
At a DMK youth wing meeting held on Saturday, DMK youth wing secretary Udhayanidhi Stalin attacked the Congress, saying the grand old party was responsible for the BJP’s continuous victories in the country.
“I used to think that (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi and (Union Home Minister) Amit Shah alone deserved credit for the BJP’s victories. Now, I realize that it is thanks to the Congress that the BJP won,” Udayanidhi said.
Regarding the reasons for not announcing the political developments in the state, Tagore said it was out of respect and decided not to say anything about it publicly.
Tagore further claimed that the BJP will soon form an alliance with the DMK and AIADMK, and said that DMK MPs have already started shifting their seats in the Lok Sabha to sit near the BJP leaders.
HT contacted DMK leaders for a response but did not receive a response.
“Very soon, both of them will form an alliance. This is what will happen. The main reason for all this is Udhayanidhi,” he said.
At a youth wing meeting on Saturday, DMK president MK Stalin called on the party’s youth wing members to write a new chapter in history as the future of the DMK.
Stalin said: “Let us develop our plan and implementation. Let us have constructive political discourse. Let us create a new history.”
A resolution passed at the meeting condemned the Congress for allegedly “stabbing in the back” the DMK by severing ties with it and striking a pact with TVK after the polls. “…Congress benefited from the contest within the DMK-led alliance in the recent Assembly elections as well,” she added.
Meanwhile, the state Congress unit condemned the resolution passed in the meeting and said that the Congress always works by respecting secular principles, democratic values and Dharma alliance.
“No one can deny the history of various democratic and secular forces working together in Tamil Nadu politics. Having differences of opinion is normal in democratic politics,” the state Congress Committee said in a statement on Sunday.
TNCC stressed that expressing a difference of opinion through “unnecessary words and accusations” is not political courtesy.
“The Tamil Nadu Congress Committee completely rejects the accusations leveled against it such as ‘treason’ and backstabbing. The Congress always gives priority to only principled policies,” the statement read.
