DMK to discuss Congress debacle

Chennai: The TN Congress may try to downplay the pa­rty’s rout in the fo­ur state polls, but its poor show is sure to do­minate the agenda at the D­MK general co­uncil meet on Dece­mber 15

Senior Congress lea­ders such as Union shipping minister G. K. Vasan have pretended to dismiss the defeat as  ‘unexpected’ and ‘disappointing’, but his erstwhile ally and DMK leader M. Karunanidhi had mo­re to say on the subject. A cautious Karu­nanidhi, who initially chose not to respond to the media’s ‘guess’, however, said that it was a setback as far as the Congress was concerned.

Admitting that the LS poll alliance would be the agenda for the general council meeting, DMK sources said that three factors — the Congress’s failure in the north, the deliberations of the recent state BJP executive meeting and D­MK’s performance in the Yercaud bypoll — will dominate the proceedings at Anna Ariva­la­yam on Sunday.

A senior DMK MP, referring to Kalai­g­nar’s appeals to the BJP for the Yercaud bypoll, claimed that a good number of BJP exe­cutive members were in for allying with the DMK. Like­wise, the general cou­ncil will allot considerable time to discuss the DMDK’s decision of not only abstaining, but also not even indirectly supporting, the DMK in Yercaud.

“We backed the DM­DK in Pudukottai, but it has not returned the favour. That’s someth­ing to watch out for,” another DMK MP said conceding that Vijay­akanth had kept the rumour mill spinning by stating that he would tag along with the party that accepted his leadership.

The council will  also discuss DMK’s performance in the Yerc­a­ud bypoll which took place under the guidance of its treasurer M.K. Sta­lin.

However, party insi­ders hinted that DMK wo­uld not spell out its alliance plans for the Lok Sabha polls, but some policy cha­nges would be communicated to rank and file.