The focus of the DMK argument as it appeared in the editorial is simple: The Congress and Mr Gandhi want to project themselves as the unifying forces of the Opposition in the country but they are not. In fact, they are the dividers-in-chief, the party believes
There are truths, and then there are bitter truths which people seldom want to tell unless pushed to the wall. It looks like the DMK was disinclined to tell the bitter truth, or what it perceived to be so, about the Congress and its leader Rahul Gandhi until the latter broke their long-standing alliance after the elections to the Tamil Nadu Assembly got over. That the Dravidian party faced an upset defeat is one reason for the bitterness; that the Congress had no compunction in breaking the alliance and joining forces with its newly victorious political rival is the other. Together they gave the DMK the perfect excuse for making a clean breast of its feelings about the Congress and Mr Gandhi in an editorial in its mouthpiece, Murasoli.
The focus of the DMK argument as it appeared in the editorial is simple: The Congress and Mr Gandhi want to project themselves as the unifying forces of the Opposition in the country but they are not. In fact, they are the dividers-in-chief, the party believes. The Congress “shamelessly” pulls off all kinds of underhand tactics to prevent INDIA bloc parties from coming to power in states where Assembly elections are held, and later seek support from them when the Lok Sabha polls are around the corner. The latest meeting of the INDIA bloc leaders saw the others criticising this behaviour of the Congress instead of hailing it as a unifier, the DMK said.
The party was equally critical of Mr Gandhi. The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha gives lectures on unity but it is a case of belated enlightenment, it said, levelling serious charges at him. Mr Gandhi himself ruined Opposition unity in every single state and the Congress backstabbed the DMK in Tamil Nadu with Mr Gandhi’s blessings. He is playing good boy only after the TVK, its new alliance mate, has made it clear that it is not joining the INDIA bloc.
While making its case, the DMK was careful to include examples of the other parties in the Opposition bloc. The party called “absurd” Mr Gandhi’s allegation that the CPI(M) had a secret understanding with the BJP in Kerala during the last Assembly election; it also criticised Mr Gandhi’s repeated question why Mr Modi had not arrested CPI(M) leader and former chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The editorial also sought to rubbish Mr Gandhi’s claim that he cannot hug Mr Vijayan, pointing out that he had embraced Mr Modi in Parliament.
The estranged Congress ally pointed out that Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav emphasised in the recent meeting that the exit of DMK and AAP from the INDIA bloc was a massive setback. As for RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, the editorial quoted him as saying he had suspicions as to whether there were tacit understandings on many issues between the Congress and the BJP leaders in Bihar.
The DMK’s plainspeak about the Congress and its tallest leaders cannot come without a genuine reason. Reports suggest that the Congress is pushing for a merger with the Nationalist Congress Party (SP) and the Trinamul Congress. The DMK is clearly putting the Congress on notice that it is not alone in criticising the party and that they have their options open if the Congress continues to be narrow-minded about the nation’s politics. It is up to the Congress to decide whether to listen to it.
