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Tamil Nadu Congress snubs TMC

The Tamil Maanila Congress, which made an open statement that its main agenda was to make Congress president Sonia Gandhi the prime minister and TMC president G K Moopanar, the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, today received a rebuff from the state leadership of the Congress party.

The TMC's agenda was disclosed to reporters at Karur by senior party leader and leader of the opposition in the Tamil Nadu assembly C Balakrishnan yesterday.

Addressing reporters today, TNCC president Tindivanam K Ramamurthy said if at all the TMC and its ally in Tamil Nadu, the ruling DMK, wanted to support the Congress to form a government at the Centre, it would only be a natural choice as the other option would be to support the BJP.

He said the Congress did not give much importance to a party with two or three seats in the Lok Sabha. The TMC has three MPs.

Besides, the Congress would not accept the TMC's bid to grow in the state at the cost of the Congress or its leaders, Ramamurthy said, and accused the TMC of denigrating Congress leaders.

Ramamurthy alleged that the DMK government was using the state police force to suppress the genuine political activity of the Congress and the TMC was lending support to the administration in this regard.

Ramamurthy alleged that law and order was deteriorating in the state and the police force was being used to suppress political activity of opposition parties.

He claimed that thousands of Muslims had been arrested in the state on the eve of the Babri Masjid demolition anniversary to appease the BJP-led government. This was no way of running a democratic government, he added.

Ramamurthy said senior AICC leaders would participate in a three-day training camp for platform speakers of the party beginning in Madras on January 29.

UNI

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