Will not discuss alliance expectations in public: Selvaperunthagai

Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president K. Selvaperunthagai on Sunday said he would not want to publicly talk about the number of seats his party was planning to seek from the DMK for next year’s Assembly election.

Addressing journalists in Chennai, he said he would communicate the expectations of the State unit to the All India Congress Committee (AICC) and the DMK leadership. “I am the president of the TNCC. I cannot speak about this in public. I have been communicating the expectations of our leaders to the AICC. We will speak about it with our alliance partners,” he said.

Mr. Selvaperunthagai said questions about the Congress contesting in reduced number of seats in the DMK-led alliance over the last two Assembly elections should be answered by leaders who allowed that to happen. “Only those who took 41 seats [2016] from 63 seats [2011] and then those who took 25 seats [2021] after taking 41 seats should answer this question. How can I answer it? Only the AICC can take these decisions, and we will follow their guidelines,” he said.

Mr. Selvaperunthagai said there was no need to censure leaders who were speaking openly about their expectations and said the DMK-Congress alliance was strong and had won consecutive elections. “We have contested five elections together (including the local bodies poll) and have been successful. Why would we not continue this winning alliance? Decision about moving out of the alliance can only be taken by the AICC,” he said.

Mr. Selvaperunthagai also responded to Opposition leader and AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami’s accusation that the DMK’s allies were unable to speak freely. “He should read the newspapers everyday. When the State government increased the electricity tariff, we opposed it in the Assembly. Similarly, we opposed the hike in property and road tax. What didn’t we oppose? Edappadi [Mr. Palaniswami] doesn’t read papers. He doesn’t even stay in the Assembly. He just talks whatever he wants,” he alleged.

He added that everybody in Tamil Nadu knew the condition of the AIADMK and said Mr. Palaniswami should not speak about other political parties.