Congress may go it alone in civic polls
From the present indications, the civic polls could be delayed till next summer, giving ample time for the Congress to make its preparations.
Chennai: The DMK-Congress alliance seems to be running into rough weather as the national party is planning to make a tough bargain with its ally for the local body elections next year and is preparing itself to go it alone, if its demands are not met.
The mood in the party was indicated at its zonal conference in Palayamkottai, where leaders barring TNCC chief S. Thirunavukkarasar strongly lashed out at the treatment meted out by the DMK in the allotment for local body elections, when it was announced in October this year.
According to a Congress functionary who attended the meet, most of the party leaders including the young brigade close to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi asserted that the party should not be taken for granted by the DMK in the civic body poll negotiations again.
Senior leaders felt that political situation in the state had changed and the Congress should utilise the existing circumstances to emerge as a strong alternative in Tamil Nadu, he said.
District functionaries belonging to party’s stronghold of Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli, Virudhunagar and Tuticorin districts had complained that the DMK district units which negotiated the pact at the local level forced the Congress functionaries to accept a raw deal at the eleventh hour. They urged the state leadership to take a tough line and safeguard the self respect of Congress.
Though, Thirunavukkarasar did not react in the conference, he later outlined his party’s plans at the next zonal conference at Madurai. In the conference attended by the media, he instructed functionaries to be prepared to field nominees in all wards.
Going further, he said the alliance would be decided by the high command and partymen should be prepared to go it alone, eliciting loud response from workers.
From the present indications, the civic polls could be delayed till next summer, giving ample time for the Congress to make its preparations. However, till the elections are announced, Congress is expected to maintain cordial ties with the DMK.