New Delhi, May 6
A worried Congress rushed to mollify its allies, the Trinamool Congresss (TMC) and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), who have taken serious objection to AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi’s overtures to their political opponents.
TMC leader Mamata Bannerjee is apparently furious with Rahul’s public statement yesterday that the Congress was open to a post-poll alliance with the Left parties. She has even threatened to walk-out of the alliance with the Congress if it ties up with the Communists.
Similarly, the DMK is equally angry with the Nehru-Gandhi scion for describing Jayalalitha’s AIADMK as a “like minded” party and suggesting that the Congress is keeping its post-poll options open. Suspecting that the grand old party may have entered into a secret understanding with its political rival, the DMK is now refusing to campaign for the Congress in Tamil Nadu which goes to polls on May 13.
Going into a damage control mode, the Congress gave detailed explanations on how all its pre-poll alliances are “very
precious” and that the party “will not do anything to undermine them”. Congress spokesperson Veerappa Moily said, “We will not do anything which will upset our allies. The alliance with Trinamool Congress is stable, strong and permanent.”
Stating that the perception created by Rahul Gandhi’s statement was not correct, Moily said the Congress had no intention to drop its existing allies.”We will not let them down after the election,” he emphasised. It is not Rahul Gandhi’s statement alone which has left Mamata Bannerjee fuming. She is equally livid with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s reported comment that the tie-up with the TMC is not based on a pre-condition that his party could not take support from the Left parties.
While the AICC general secretary, in charge of West Bengal, was entrusted with the task of mollifying the Trinamool chief, Tamil Nadu in charge Ghulam Nabi Azad had a lot of explaining to do to the DMK, a key constituent of the UPA. The postponement of Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s joint rallies with DMK chief M Karunanidhi because of the latter’s ill-health was quite timely, given the mood among the DMK leaders. In a tailspin over the angry response of its allies to Rahul Gandhi’s remarks on post-poll alliances, Congress spin doctors went out of their way to interpret his statements. They insisted that young Gandhi actually intended to send out a clear message that the Congress will definitely be leading the next government and that it is the NDA which is in disarray. Gandhi’s flattering comments on the JD(U) and the TDP, according to them, was not an admission of defeat or a sign of desperation that the Congress is scrambling for partners.
However, Congress spokesperson Ashwani Kumar description of the JD(U), AIADMK and TDP as secular parties, who would abide by the “secular dharma”, only ended up embarrassing the party which had been trying hard to quell the speculation that it is on a desperate hunt for post-poll allies. He said the Congress stood committed to its pre-poll alliances and it would seek support of other secular parties but not at the cost of its existing allies.
