Kumaramangalam justifies DMK, BJP moves to join hands

TIRUCHIRAPPALLI, MAY 3: BJP leader Rangarajan Kumaramangalam today justified the current moves by DMK to join hands with the BJP to conte...

TIRUCHIRAPPALLI, MAY 3: BJP leader Rangarajan Kumaramangalam today justified the current moves by DMK to join hands with the BJP to contest the Lok Sabha polls, saying, in this instance “the adage a friend in need is a friend indeed is more apt than the proverb that there are no permanent friends or foes in politics.”

In an informal chat with newspersons here, Kumaramangalam, who is also Union Power Minister said he would be meeting DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi and other DMK leaders at Chennai later this evening and hold discussions about the alliance.

He said the present alliance line-up of the BJP continued to remain the same except for the withdrawal of AIADMK. The coalition would welcome any other party to join forces to face the mid-term polls, he said.

Story continues below this ad

Asked about the possibility of the TMC joining the BJP-led front, he said if it made any such proposition, it would be considered and a dialogue initiated only after seeking an explanation about the TMC voting against the trust motion moved by the Vajpayee government in Lok Sabha.

To a query, Kumaramangalam said “we will never interfere in cases against Jayalalitha. It is for the courts to decide the pace at which the cases are to be handled and disposed of.”

When his views were sought about Sonia Gandhi being projected as the prime ministerial candidate by Congress, the BJP leader claimed that the people were against it.

2 suspects in Louvre heist case arrested by French police: report

World1 min ago

French police have arrested two suspects in the Louvre jewel heist, one at the airport and the other in a Paris suburb. They are currently being questioned by authorities. Paris police have not yet commented on the situation.

View all shorts

Live Blog

PHOTOS