Chennai (Tamil Nadu)/New Delhi [India], February 9 : Ahead of the Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu this year, the Bharatiya Janata Party has been attempting to portray the Indian National Congress as a burden to the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-led alliance in the State.
BJP leader Narayanan Thirupathy on Monday told ANI, "I have been saying this, the DMK feels that the Congress is a waste luggage and ... as happened in the entire country like how Mamata Banerjee did how the Aam Admi did, the same way DMK is feeling that the party in Tamil Nadu has also become very weak."
Thirupathy was referring to the decision of Trinamool and the Aam Aadmi Party, who decided to decouple for elections with their INDIA ally, Congress.
Congress MP from the Tamil Sivaganga Lok Sabha constituency, Karti Chidambaram, however, told ANI today that his party's partnership with the DMK is intact and that they will fight the upcoming election unitedly to defeat the opposition AIADMK-BJP alliance.
"See, the alliance is intact. We are part of the INDIA alliance; we lead the INDIA alliance nationally and the DMK leads the INDIA alliance in Tamil Nadu," he said.
Asked about the seat-sharing talks between the two parties ahead of the forthcoming polls, Chidambaram said, "We have formed a committee to negotiate with the DMK the number of seats we will contest, and we are awaiting for the DMK to form its committee. So really, you should pose the question to the DMK which is the leader of the alliance in Tamil Nadu."
Further, he said that Congress is ready to have the conversation on seat sharing "right now."
"It's really up to the DMK which is leading the alliance to set the timetable, but the alliance is intact and I believe that a united alliance will win the elections in Tamil Nadu," Chidambaram said.
Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) President K Selvaperunthagai also has asserted that there is "no rift" within the DMK-Congress alliance ahead of upcoming elections and emphasised that the alliance was "functioning smoothly."
Addressing reporters in Madurai on Saturday, Selvaperunthagai said that party leaders in the State have already engaged in detailed talks regarding constituency allocation and have conveyed their recommendations to the Congress leadership. He further said that the seats they have asked for will "definitely be given".
"Tamil Nadu Congress Committee leaders have held alliance talks and conveyed their views to the All India Congress leadership. Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge will take the final decision," Selvaperunthagai said.
Meanwhile, while addressing the DMK Youth Wing Southern Zone Office-Bearers Conference on Saturday, Chief Minister MK Stalin said the coming Assembly polls would be a decisive battle between Tamil Nadu and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Recalling the party's clean sweep in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Stalin said the DMK had delivered on its promise of winning all 40 parliamentary seats and was now ready to set a new benchmark.
Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of centralising authority, Stalin alleged that the Centre was working to weaken state parties. "They cannot touch Tamil Nadu. In the upcoming elections, we must give them the same in return," he said, asserting that the NDA should be reduced to zero in the Assembly elections as well.
In the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly, the DMK won 133 seats in the 2021 Assembly polls. Congress won 18, PMK won 5, VCK won 4, and others won 8. In the previous 2016 elections the AIADMK under J. Jayalalithaa won the elections. She was later succeeded by O. Panneerselvam and then Edappadi K Palaniswami.
The AIADMK won 136 seats while the DMK alliance got 98 seats (DMK-89, INC-8). In the 2011 Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, a massive wave of anti-incumbency against the DMK led to a landslide victory for the AIADMK alliance which got 203 seats while the DMK alliance bagged 31 seats (DMK-23, INC-5).