CHENNAI: RK Nagar MLA TTV Dhinakaran recently made a surprise statement that his party would not mind having a tie-up with the Congress, if the grand old party left the DMK. Though it is still too early for guesswork, political observers say Dhinakaran’s offer would help Congress in leveraging its bargaining power with its ally DMK in seat-sharing.
Speaking to Express, a district-level Congress functionary said, “Many cadre are very happy on hearing the statement made by Dhinakaran. The DMK is not even openly announcing its support to bring Congress back to power at the Centre. Even recently DMK leader Stalin said the Prime Minister candidate would be decided at the time of election. The DMK circles are already spreading the word that the Congress would be given seats only in single digit in the Parliamentary elections. Hence the right choice for the Congress is to form an alliance with Dhinakaran, PMK and other parties and make use of the anti-incumbency factor against Modi government.”
Whether the Congress leaders would dare to take any such adventure remains to be seen. But such an offer from other parties would help Congress in other ways, at least. “Most Congress leaders seem to prefer to be in alliance with DMK. But surely this will help the Congress bargain for more seats with the DMK. The final decision will always be with the party’’s high command in Delhi,” opines Raveenthran Duraisamy, a political analyst.
When contacted by Express, S Thirunavukkarasar, president of the Tamil Nadu unit of the Congress, remained noncommittal. “He (Dhinakaran) has expressed his opinion, but we are in alliance with the DMK. And there is nothing to say about this.”