T.T.V. Dhinakaran's announcement on Thursday that his party is open to an alliance with the Congress if it ends its tie-up with the DMK has set the cat among the pigeons in the Tamil Nadu Congress.
Mr. Dhinakaran had spoken of his preference for a DMK-less Congress after meeting his jailed aunt, V.K. Sasikala, at Bengaluru. He also ruled out an alliance with the BJP.
In public, Congress leaders have rejected the possibility of an alliance with Mr. Dhinakaran's Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK). However, in private, some of them admit that they remain worried about the health of their current alliance.
A Congress leader said that Mr. Dhinakaran could be attempting to take advantage of the mistrust between Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president Su. Thirunavukkarasar and the DMK leadership. “From what I have understood, the Central leadership of the Congress remains committed to a DMK alliance, but the State leadership continues to consider alliances with other parties,” said a TNCC office-bearer.
“That Dhinakaran decided to speak about this after meeting Sasikala means he obtained her permission to float this idea. One cannot rule out back-channel talks between the two parties,” said a senior Congress leader. He added that though the Central leadership seems to have a preference for the DMK, there are factions within the state Congress that hope to convince it to look elsewhere. “Delhi has no permanent enemies or permanent friends. They only have permanent interests,” said another leader.
TNCC president Su. Thirunavukkarasar, however, said that the Congress' alliance with the DMK remained ‘strong’.
"It is Mr. Dhinakaran's opinion. What can I say when he is placing conditions? We are already in an alliance with the DMK," he said.
The TNCC president said that while he welcomed an expansion of the alliance, he added that no one from the AMMK had approached the Congress to explore the possibility of working together. However, he had good words for Mr. Dhinakaran.
“After four years of misrule by the BJP, all parties want to work with the Congress. Those like (VCK chief) Thirumavalavan and (PMK founder) Ramadoss have signalled an interest in working with the Congress. Dhinakaran has also attacked the BJP,” he said.
