Chennai: Allies in Tamil Nadu have risen in support of DMK, dubbing Congress functionary Praveen Chakravarthy as an "irritant" in the DMK-Congress alliance. Attempts by Chakravarthy "to disrupt the alliance" with his actions and X post have prompted allies to insist that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi intervene and act against the AICC functionary and "put an end to such disruptive attempts".
Senior alliance leaders say Praveen Chakravarthy meeting TVK president Vijay, at least twice in recent months, and acting against the INDIA bloc did not go down well with allies, giving room for “ridicule and mockery” by opposition parties. The BJP has utilised the situation for its personal gains by targeting the DMK alliance with “spurious information” shared by Praveen, they allege.
MDMK principal secretary Durai Vaiko said repeated incidents of Praveen speaking against the alliance disturbed harmony. “Praveen’s activities are against the interests of alliance partners and raise doubts about whether Congress is doing it on purpose. He is fuelling narratives from BJP. It is high time Rahul intervenes and stops him for the sake of the alliance,” Durai told ToI.
VCK MP Ravikumar joined the chorus demanding action from Rahul Gandhi. He said such infighting weakens the morale of cadres of alliance parties. “The INDIA bloc is the strongest in TN, and our chief minister (M K Stalin) is the key reason for the alliance remaining strong. There is an image being built that DMK alliance is in trouble, and Rahul should not allow it,” Ravikumar said.
Appreciating Rahul for his staunch opposition to BJP and RSS, Ravikumar said, “People like Praveen, instead of strengthening Rahul’s fight against the RSS, are weakening him.”
Though CPM state secretary P Shanmugam accepted that the Praveen issue had become a concern in the alliance, he said it will not impact their performance. “But Congress should sort it out,” said Shanmugam. CPI state secretary M Veerapandian too took a similar stand. “Our alliance is ideology-based and will not be impacted by such minor issues. It is quite common in a multi-party alliance, and Congress will sort it out,” Veerapandian said.
Courtesy : TOI
Note: This news is originally published on https:/timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights