Jothimani justifies Congress-TVK alliance, calls breaking ties natural

Congress MP Jothimani defends the party's new alliance with TVK in Tamil Nadu, calling it a 'natural' political move. She recalls DMK ending their alliance in 2014, while the DMK has now termed Congress's move a 'backstab'.

Jothimani justifies alliance, calls breaking ties 'natural'

Amidst the recent criticism from Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) over Congress' alliance with Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) in Tamil Nadu, Congress MP Jothimani on Wednesday justified the move, stressing that in politics, "forming" and "breaking" alliances is "natural."

Recalls 2014 split with DMK

In a detailed post on X, the Congress MP recalled a previous instance from 2014, when the DMK had "expelled" Congress from the alliance, following which it was forced to contest alone. She stated that Congress didn't criticise the DMK at that time and considered it a "political move." "In politics, alliances forming and breaking is only natural. Even the DMK, just a week before announcing the 2014 parliamentary elections, expelled the Congress party from a long-standing alliance. We were suddenly pushed into contesting alone. For that, we didn't harshly criticise the DMK. We understood it as a political stance," Jothimani said.

'Alliance for Tamil Nadu's welfare'

Highlighting the "ups and downs" among parties within an alliance, Jothimani asserted that the alliance with TVK in Tamil Nadu is for the sake of the state's welfare. "The Congress party has been journeying in alliance with the DMK for a long time. When you're in an alliance, there are bound to be ups and downs. I myself have clashed publicly. Now, keeping in mind the welfare and future of Tamil Nadu, the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee has unanimously decided to join an alliance with the TVK," Jothimani wrote.

Urges 'mutual respect' in parting ways

Highlighting the importance of parting ways from the alliance with "mutual respect", the Karur MP noted there should not be any harsh words used by both Congress and DMK following the development. She further stressed that it is not the "political decency nor the culture" of Congress to criticise a party it had been in alliance with before, and then criticise it with "extreme ferocity", at a time when DMK supremo MK Stalin has himself lost the election. "Now, the Congress party is compelled to take a political stance. Therefore, it's best for us to part ways from the alliance with mutual respect. We must avoid using harsh words on both sides. Especially in the current situation where the DMK has faced defeat in the elections--and that too with the honorable Chief Minister, elder brother Thiru. M.K. Stalin himself having lost--it's neither political decency nor the culture of the Congress party to have been in the alliance until yesterday and then criticize it with extreme ferocity," said Jothimani.

On Congress's national role and Rahul Gandhi

The Karur MP also highlighted Congress' previous three debacles in Parliamentary elections, stressing its "different reasons" and noted that if any party takes a stance of not allying with the grand old party due to this reason, then it cannot lead the INDIA bloc at the national level. "The Congress party too has suffered continuous defeats in three parliamentary elections. There are various national-level reasons for that. If anyone takes the stance that no alliances should be formed because of it, the Congress party couldn't lead the INDIA alliance at the national level in India," said Jothimani.

Jothimani further emphasised that the Congress doesn't need any kind of "certificate of good conduct" for LoP Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, whose strength is known to the nation. "Likewise, we don't expect a certificate of good conduct for our leader Rahul Gandhi from anyone. The nation knows that he is the only leader with the strength to uncompromisingly oppose and bring down the BJP's fascist rule in this country. Remember this: no matter who it is, we will neither accept nor stand by silently while he is defamed," she said.

Congress-TVK Alliance Formation

This comes after Congress announced its support for the TVK in forming the next government in the state. Several senior leaders of Tamil Nadu Congress, including state chief K Selvaperunthagai, incharge Girish Chodankar, arrived at the TVK headquarters to meet party chief Vijay and confirmed its alliance.

With Congress' five seats and TVK's 108 seats, the alliance tally has reached 113 seats, which is still five seats short of the 118 majority. TVK has approached AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS). AIADMK has won 47 seats in the assembly election, which will help TVK comfortably cross the halfway mark.

Vijay's TVK delivered an outstanding performance in its debut elections, outperforming Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK)'s years-long monopoly.

DMK slams move as 'myopic' and a 'backstab'

DMK Saravanan Annadurai criticised Congress for jumping ship, calling their decision "myopic" and accusing them of having "backstabbed" INDIA alliance partners. "I think this is a very short-sighted, myopic stand taken by the Congress, which they will regret. The 2029 big elections are coming, where we are very confident that we will be able to remove the BJP. But now, because of this decision by the Congress, it has made them a very unstable partner. The perception that is out in the entire country is that Congress cannot be trusted," he said. (ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)