The mood at the DMK’s general council meeting was overwhelmingly against going with the Congress in the Lok Sabha polls. Even those who did not want an alliance with the BJP vehemently attacked the Congress.
The morning session on Sunday witnessed speaker after speaker including former Minister K.N. Nehru, S.S. Palanimanickam, former MP Tiruchi Siva and other senior leaders arguing against an alliance with the Congress on the ground that the party had betrayed the DMK on the Sri Lankan Tamil issue and the 2G spectrum scam even though the DMK remained a loyal ally.
They also pointed out that that party’s performance in the Yercaud Assembly by-election, despite the fact it was forced to fend for itself in the absence of support from other political parties, showed that DMK was capable of managing elections on its own.
Tiruchi Siva was highly critical of the Congress leadership, saying that the DMK had paid a heavy price for its loyalty and was left with gaping wounds.
He said that in the 2G spectrum case, A. Raja, former Telecommunication Minister, was not even allowed to record his views by the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC). At the same time Mr Siva said it was against the ideology of the DMK to align with the BJP.
J. Anbazhagan, secretary of the party’s south Chennai unit and a loyalist of DMK treasurer M. K. Stalin, suggested an alliance with the BJP.
“We can consider an alliance with the party if its leadership approaches us,” he said. But he also made it clear that the DMK should not join a BJP-led government at the Centre as the arrangement had neither helped the party leaders nor benefitted the cadre at the ground level.
2 venomous snakes The DMK’s headquarters secretary, Thuraimugam Haja, was scathing in his attack on both the Congress and the BJP, calling the two parties venomous snakes.
He also did not prefer any arrangement with actor Vijayakant’s Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK).
