CHENNAI: The resignation of four AIADMK MLAs and their subsequent switch to TVK have not gone down well with the allies of the ruling party — the Congress, the Left and VCK.
Congress MP Jothimani on X said while the grand old party, as a coalition partner, would stand by Vijay’s government in delivering good governance, it could not support all the methods adopted by TVK to pursue its goals.
“The methods must strengthen democracy, not weaken it,” she wrote and invoking the Tamil literary concept of thozhamai suttal (a friend’s rebuke). Jothimani drew a direct line between the defections and the BJP’s playbook.
She said horse-trading was the very weapon BJP had first deployed to weaken Congress and democracy across the country, adding Congress could not take a dual position, supporting it in Tamil Nadu while opposing it elsewhere.
The MP’s remarks, however, drew a sharp response from fellow Congress MP Manickam Tagore of Virudhunagar, who, without naming her, questioned why she had remained silent when DMK attacked Congress. He listed a sequence of prior provocations - DMK cadre raising anti- Congress slogans in Stalin’s presence, and Udhayanidhi’s supporters passing a resolution branding Congress a “parasite” and a “traitor”.
VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan also made it clear the party does not not see the defections as healthy politics, but assured the government that it would not allow it to be destabilised. “We will not let your government topple, govern with that assurance,” Thirumavalavan said. “The party should not encourage this. Allowing any MLA who resigns to join the party will affect its credibility,” he added.
CPM state secretary P Shanmugam said in a statement the AIADMK MLAs joining TVK could not be viewed as a normal political move made without the expectation of benefits. He said such actions are not healthy for democracy or political ethics.
