DMK organisation secretary R S Bharathi on Saturday said there was nothing wrong in DMK joining hands with AIADMK, responding to allegations by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) that DMK held talks with AIADMK after the Tamil Nadu assembly election to explore forming a government.
Bharathi's remarks at DMK headquarters
Speaking to reporters at Anna Arivalayam, the DMK headquarters in Chennai, Bharathi drew a parallel with the Left parties. “CPI split in 1964 and CPM was formed but they are now together. Similarly, what is wrong in DMK and AIADMK coming together after 54 years of split? That doesn’t mean we should join now, but it is not a crime,” he said.
Bharathi emphasised that unlike the Bharatiya Janata Party, DMK and AIADMK are not political opponents. “AIADMK is like a ‘pangali’ (close relative) to us. Historically, DMK and AIADMK sit opposite each other in the assembly, but now time has brought us together. On seeing this, cadres think both parties have teamed up and they (TVK) are the reason,” he added.
Shared Dravidian ideology
He noted the common ideological roots of the two parties. “We both speak about Periyar (social reformer E V Ramaswamy) and Anna (the late CM C N Annadurai). But where we speak about Kalaignar (the late CM M Karunanidhi), they speak about MGR (the late CM M G Ramachandran). They are not our enemies the way BJP is. We (DMK and AIADMK) haven’t joined hands, but the Left parties are getting us together, as both our cadres are desperate to save the Dravidian movement,” Bharathi said.
CPM's allegations and Bharathi's counter
CPM state secretary P Shanmugam on Friday claimed that DMK had held talks with AIADMK after the election. While Bharathi refuted the claim of formal talks, he acknowledged that AIADMK is not an untouchable party. “On many occasions, CPM aligned with AIADMK and had even obtained Rajya Sabha seats. With CPM’s history of shifting alliances, it is not certain whether they will remain with the same alliance in the next election,” Bharathi said.
When asked whether DMK’s high-handedness before the election caused allies to move away, Bharathi questioned the timing of their exit. “If there was high-handedness, they should have opted out of the alliance even before the election. Why were they waiting for the election to end?” he asked.
