Cong-DMK alliance should continue in the interests of TN people: Thirunvaukkarasar

As fissures remained in the Congress-DMK alliance in Tamil Nadu, former AICC secretary S Thirunavukkarasar wanted the tie-up to continue in the interests of people of the state and both the parties.

Talking to PTI over phone on Thursday, he said the two parties should forget critical statements and counter-statements made by their leaders as "bad experience" and move on.

The trouble in the alliance started when Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K S Alagiri and Congress legislature party leader K R Ramasamy charged the DMK leadership of violating the "coalition dharma" in the distribution of seats for the just concluded rural local bodies election.

 

The DMK took objection to this and boycotted an all-party meeting convened by Congress president Sonia Gandhi in Delhi on Monday.

DMK leader Durai Murugan even said that his party was least bothered if the Congress left the alliance.

Thirunavukkarasar, who is also a former TNCC president, said he was hopeful that the alliance would continue and pointed out that there was no difference of opinion between Sonia Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi with DMK president M K Stalin.

"This alliance had proved its strength by winning 38 out of 39 Lok Sabha seats during last year's poll. Assembly poll in TN is also not far. Both the parties should forget their differences and move on in unity," he said.

The Congress leader, a Lok Sabha member from Tiruchi in TN, added that the parties should continue to work hand-in-hand and devise strategies to oppose the ideologies and policies of the AIADMK-BJP alliance.

"Everything can be resolved if the leaders of both the parties sit together and talk," he said.

The ruling AIADMK-BJP alliance is also facing strain with former union minister and BJP leader Pon Radhakrishnan claiming that Tamil Nadu had become a "den" of terrorists and the state government was doing nothing to finish off terrorism.

To this, AIADMK senior leader and Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar stated that Radhakrishnan was making such statements out of frustration as he could not get the post of BJP's TN president.