Days before the results of the Tamil Nadu assembly elections, All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge for Tamil Nadu, Girish Chodankar, reignited the debate on power sharing on Wednesday with his remarks that the Congress will no longer be a neutral party in the state's politics.
Congress must choose side
Chodankar stated that the Congress party would have to be either part of the government or in the opposition for it to grow in Tamil Nadu. "We cannot be a neutral player anymore in Tamil Nadu. We have to be either in the government or in the opposition. Without active politics, we cannot grow our party in Tamil Nadu," Chodankar told media in Delhi.
The statement is seen as a recalibration of the Congress strategy in Tamil Nadu after the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) turned down its demand for power sharing during the seat-sharing talks. During the negotiations, a section of Congress leaders, including Virudhunagar MP Manickam Tagore, wanted power sharing to be part of the deal with the DMK. Although the Congress dropped the demand, there was discontent among several Congress leaders at the state and national level. The absence of a joint campaign by Chief Minister M K Stalin and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was attributed to this discontent.
With just four days left for the election results, Chodankar has once again opened the chapter. However, he clarified that the Congress has not initiated any fresh negotiation with the DMK on power sharing.
Issue-based support possible
Speaking to the Times of India, Chodankar reiterated his earlier statement that the Congress will either be "part of the government or provide issue-based support to the government and raise our voice for the people."
"We cannot be neutral anymore. We have to be with people by becoming their voice. Growth of our party is our priority," he said. Chodankar noted that the Congress has followed coalition dharma in Tamil Nadu by opposing divisive forces such as the AIADMK and the BJP.
He expressed confidence that the DMK will form the government. "Our alliance has a better chance of forming the government in Tamil Nadu. Stalin will become Chief Minister again. This is the first time many alliance parties came together to stop the BJP from entering Tamil Nadu," Chodankar said.
DMK firm on no power sharing
Responding to his remarks, the DMK reiterated that power sharing was out of the question. "We have already said that there is no place for sharing power, and we are firm on it," DMK organisational secretary R S Bharathi told the Times of India.
He dismissed the statement, noting that there was no power sharing demand from Rahul Gandhi or AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge.
