Chennai: Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram stated on Saturday that the party joined hands with the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) only after informing the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leadership. He emphasized that the decision was driven by the necessity to avoid another election in case TVK failed to secure majority support, reflecting the broader sentiment among alliance partners.
Chidambaram's Clarification
“We left only after informing them. I knew about it, but I do not want to speak about it any further,” the former Union minister told a news channel. His remarks contradicted the DMK leadership’s charge that the Congress exited the alliance without even paying a courtesy call on alliance leader M K Stalin. The fallout has strained ties between the former allies, with DMK leaders accusing Congress of being “betrayers” and “backstabbers.”
Re-election Concerns
Chidambaram said neither the party nor the people of Tamil Nadu were prepared for a re-election. According to him, this view was shared by the VCK, CPI, CPM, and IUML. The only difference, he noted, was that the Congress took the decision a day ahead of the other allies.
Meetings with Left Leaders
The veteran leader met CPI state secretary M Veerapandian and CPM state secretary P Shanmugam at their respective party offices on Saturday. These meetings came a day after the Left parties criticized Congress functionary Praveen Chakravarty’s social media post, which claimed he had been nominated to the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Tamil Nadu on behalf of the newly formed Tamil Nadu Social Justice Progressive Front.
After meeting Chidambaram, Veerapandian told reporters that the interaction was purely a courtesy call. He reiterated that the CPI would continue in the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance.
