The Congress is ready to face whatever changes that occur in its alliance with the DMK in Puducherry, said Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K.S. Alagiri in Tiruppur on Tuesday.
Mr Alagiri told journalists that the Congress preferred to continue ties with its allies, but was also ready to contest alone in the poll-bound Union Territory. However, he clarified that there were no contradictions in the DMK-Congress alliance inTamil Nadu.
He chaired a review meeting in Tiruppur on Tuesday regarding the campaign visit of former Congress president Rahul Gandhi to the districts in the State’s western region from January 23.
Mr. Gandhi will interact with industrialists from Coimbatore and Tiruppur districts during his visit, he said.
Mr. Alagiri added that Mr. Gandhi’s campaign visits to the State would be “five times more” than his campaign visits for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. However, his January 23 visit would be solely for election campaigning and not to conduct talks on seat-sharing, he said.
On a question regarding Makkal Needhi Maiam founder Kamal Haasan, Mr. Alagiri said if Mr. Haasan decided to join the DMK-Congress alliance, the Congress would welcome it. On actor Rajinikanth, he recalled that the Congress had already invited him to join their party and asserted that the actor’s fans would continue to support the Congress.
Mr. Alagiri claimed people would not have hesitated getting vaccinated against COVID-19 had Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Ministers taken the vaccine shots first.
Following the meeting, Mr. Alagiri visited Kangeyam to meet with the farmers from PAP-Vellakoil Branch Canal Water Protection Committee, who went on a hunger strike demanding adequate release of water to the Vellakoil branch canal under the Parambikulam-Aliyar Project (PAP).