A section of leaders in the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee is upset over the DMK ‘unilaterally’ announcing its candidates for three Rajya Sabha seats. The national party was already miffed over not being given adequate representation in the recently-concluded rural local body polls.
A senior TNCC leader claimed that the DMK had earlier agreed to give a Rajya Sabha berth to the party. “When the Congress pitched Dr. Manmohan Singh’s candidature for the Rajya Sabha from Tamil Nadu last time around, the DMK said we should have asked earlier. During the seat sharing [talks] for the Lok Sabha polls, when we sought more seats, we were promised one seat in the Rajya Sabha. That promise was for the current Assembly’s tenure. We do not know what will happen in the next Assembly election, as it is likely to be a close contest,” he said.
“Plus or minus, one RS seat is not a big issue. But look at how they treated us in the local bodies and how the AIADMK is treating its allies. In fact, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami is on a stronger footing now than he was three years ago, and he has the State machinery to support him when the elections come. If Mr. Rajinikanth takes the political plunge and wins 15-20 seats, he might turn out to be the kingmaker,” another leader said. “The DMK must realise that the Congress has a presence in every district,” he said, adding, “Even 2,000-3,000 votes might make a difference in close contests in the Assembly election.”
The Congress leaders felt the cadre were disillusioned with the DMK over its handling of their party’s demands. “If a cadre is demoralised, he won’t work even if the leadership asks him to. So, who will lose if you (DMK) affect the alliance?” a party leader asked.
The national party wants the Dravidian major to ‘introspect’, ensure there is cohesiveness in the alliance and take into account the support extended by the Congress to the DMK regime in the past.