Congress closes doors on TMC

Chennai: No new party would join the DMK alliance to fight the ensuing local body polls, TNCC chief S. Thirunavukarasar said on Sunday, virtually closing the doors on the splinter group TMC that has evinced interest in aligning with the Dravidian party.

“The alliance remains the same. The DMK-Congress alliance remains the same. There is no confusion on the constituents of the alliance. Only those parties which contested the 2016 Assembly elections along with the DMK are now aligning with the party for local body polls as well,” Mr Thirunavukarasar told reporters here.

His comments assume significance in the wake of efforts by TMC chief G.K. Vasan for an “electoral understanding” with the DMK for the local body polls.
Mr Vasan had last week met DMK treasurer M.K. Stalin and evinced his interest in joining the alliance. However, the DMK top brass seem to be in a dilemma on inducting TMC.

While reaffirming that the Congress-DMK alliance was intact and would continue for the local body polls as well, Mr Thirunavukarasar, made it clear in a subtle manner that his party was opposed to TMC joining the combine and indicated that the DMK has taken note of their opposition.

Mr Vasan had revived the TMC in November 2014 after quitting the Congress. His party aligned with the DMDK-PWA for the Assembly polls and suffered humiliating defeat.

The TNCC chief said his party would soon launch seat-sharing talks with the DMK at the district level. “Leaders of both parties at the district level would sit together and identify areas where their parties are strong. They would also take note of the areas where the parties had won last elections,” he said.