Tamil Maanila Congress has not suffered any “ideological crisis.” It is intact despite exit of leaders like Peter Alphonse and P. Vishwanathan, asserts senior TMC leader and lawyer B.S. Gnanadesikan.
TMC president G.K. Vasan refused to ally with BJP despite an open invitation, he told DC in an interview.
Q TMC has suffered a setback with the exit of leaders like Peter Alphonse and P. Vishwanathan. Other leaders have openly accused G. K. Vasan of unilaterally deciding to join DMDK-PWA alliance. How do you respond to this criticism?
There is no setback for TMC because except two (senior leaders) and 20 others have left the party to rejoin Congress. These are the same people who left Congress after blaming it. So, there is no setback for TMC. All district presidents except four, all former MLAs, except one and all former MPs, except Peter Alphonse and Vishwanathan are with TMC.
Q Senior party leaders like S.R. Balasubramaniam have blamed Vasan for taking a decision to join DMDK-PWA combine without consulting other senior leaders. What do you have to say?
It is not correct. Till these leaders left the party they were involved in discussions with him (Vasan). They have been meeting him regularly. Vasan was consulting all leaders on the alliance question and he even discussed the feasibility of alliance with all political parties. May be the decision to join the third front came late, but they were aware that PWA was inviting TMC to join their front.
Q Peter Alphonse says Vasan seems to have deviated from the ideology on which the party was launched and there were indications that TMC might have been open to do business with BJP. How do you respond to this?
If Vasan had wanted to go with BJP, he could have gone because there was an open offer from BJP to fight the elections along with them. Therefore, the accusation that we have deviated from ideology is wrong. It is just an argument to justify their decision to quit the party.
Q The decision to join DMDK-PWA combine was taken at the last minute. Does it mean TMC was waiting for the doors of AIADMK to open till the eleventh hour? What made TMC wait so long to join the combine?
You must understand that TMC was not and will not wait outside the doors of any party. On the other hand, every party was inviting TMC to join their front. Vasan was weighing all options and took a decision finally. I cannot comment on why he took the decision (late).
Q Leaders who have quit TMC say the party was formed with an aim to establish Kamaraj rule in Tamil Nadu and that the party has deviated from that and now projects Vijayakanth as Chief Minister. Is this not a contradiction?
Please tell me whether all Congressmen, including Peter Alphonse, want to establish Kamaraj rule or Karunanidhi rule? They want Karunanidhi to become Chief Minister. Now the time has not come for Kamaraj rule in Tamil Nadu. There was no other option (than to join an alliance.)
