LS poll strategy — TMC to wait till Congress makes its move

CHENNAI, MAY 7: The Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) will not make its next move in terms of electoral strategy for the coming Lok Sabha elec...

CHENNAI, MAY 7: The Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) will not make its next move in terms of electoral strategy for the coming Lok Sabha elections until the All India Congress Committee (AICC) which has been apprised of the political situation in Tamil Nadu makes its decision known, TMC president G K Moopanar said on Friday.

Addressing the media at Satyamurthy Bhavan, Moopanar, who returned from New Delhi after conferring with AICC president Sonia Gandhi and other AICC leaders on the pre-poll political equations, recalled that the TMC has been maintaining for over a year that the Congress is the only party that is capable of providing an alternative government at the Centre. "Stability will be the plank for the coming elections," he added.

He, however, pointed out that the Lok Sabha polls is more than four months away, and it is premature to talk about poll alliances and political preferences of the TMC, especially when the Congress has set up a special committee for the purpose of formulating its electoral strategy.

The TMC has no compulsion to take a view on electoral understanding with other parties as of now, he said, while refusing to divulge the details of his talks with the AICC leadership.

At the present juncture, any discussion on a Third Front led by the TMC in the State would not be relevant, he said. The TMC’s agenda of ushering in Kamaraj rule in the State would also not be valid as the poll programme is for constituting the Lok Sabha and not the State Assembly.

In a reference to the April 28 meet in the city in which the TMC participated along with the CPI, CPM, Janata Dal and Indian National League, and explained why the Vajpayee Government was brought down, Moopanar asserted that the meet had nothing to do with any effort to form a political front in the State.

Parrying questions on possible alliance between the DMK and the BJP, he said he has not heard the last word from Chief Minister and DMK president M Karunanidhi on the issue as yet. "I cannot take decisions on the basis of newspaper reports, and Karunanidhi has said the general council of the DMK will decide on possible alliance."