Senior leaders in the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee said the party’s alliance with the DMK was strong and there was absolutely no question of the alliance breaking — a point raised by actor-politician Kamal Haasan during a recent television interview.
In an interview to Tamil news channel Thanthi TV , Mr. Haasan had said he hoped that the alliance would break over a period of time. When the anchor asked him if he expected the DMK-Congress alliance to break, Mr. Haasan said, “Let it break slowly. It is for them [the voters] to break it.”
The Makkal Needhi Maiam president also said he would not ally with the DMK or the AIADMK.
The DMK and the Congress are currently in an alliance, and Congress leaders insist that the bond between the two parties is strong.
Sanjay Dutt, AICC Secretary-in-charge for Tamil Nadu, told The Hindu that he didn’t want to comment on Mr. Haasan’s statement, adding that the bond between the Congress and the DMK harked back to the days of late DMK president and former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi.
“We have a very good bonding with the DMK. It goes back to the days of Kalaignar ,” Mr. Dutt said.
‘Tried and tested’
“In fact, the first statement Stalin gave after taking over as the DMK chief was against the BJP. In his interview to The Hindu , he spoke about opposing fascist forces. Stalin’s stand is clear. Our leader Rahul Gandhi is also forming a coalition of secular, anti-RSS forces. So both are on the same track and we share the same wavelength,” Mr. Dutt said.
Senior leaders in the TNCC too said there was no question of the alliance breaking.
“We have a very sound, tried and tested alliance with the DMK. It’s a major secular party and is one of the tallest regional parties in the Indian political arena,” senior leader Peter Alphonse said.
Another TNCC leader, who did not wish to be named, said the party high command had made it clear that the alliance was strong and would continue. “At the event to pay tribute to Karunanidhi, [former Union Minister and Congress leader] P. Chidambaram too spoke about forging a strong front led by Stalin, in which the Congress will play a part,” he said.
Sources in the Congress said that ultimately, it was for the party high command to decide on alliances, be it with Mr. Haasan’s party or any other party.
