DMK Rejects Cong Demand For Coalition Government

The outright rejection puts the ball in Congress' court leaving the choice of quitting the DMK alliance or dropping the demand to stay in the front. The dismissal of the Congress demand made by its Tamil Nadu political in-charge Girish Chodankar and endorsed by TNCC president K. Selvaperunthagai came at a press briefing of the minister in Dindigul. He said there had never been a coalition government in Tamil Nadu and the DMK had always ruled on its own. He asserted that the Chief Minister is firm on the stand that there would be a coalition government in Tamil Nadu.

The demand for a coalition government was raised by Congress MP Manickam Tagore initially and later by the party’s Tamil Nadu in-charge Girish Chodankar. The TNCC president Selvaperunthagai too had also backed the demand making it the official position of the Congress.

Initially the DMK had chosen to ignore the demand for a coalition government and party spokesperson T.K.S. Elangovan also said the party ignored the demand made in public by a few leaders since any decision would be made only during the talks between the Congress national leadership and the DMK leadership. However, the DMK had chosen to make an official reply to the Congress for the first time with the party’s deputy general secretary openly rejecting it, putting the ball on the Congress court.

PMK founder S. Ramadoss praising the DMK rule has raised questions if the DMK is planning to admit the party led by him into the alliance if the Congress walks out of the front and goes with actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam. Sriganthi Ramadoss The acting president of the PMK led by Ramadoss, said the party would take a decision on alliance in a week.

In the AIADMK-BJP alliance, Tamil Nadu BJP president Nainar Nagenthran kept the coalition government debate alive by saying that AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami would be the Chief Minister and the ministers from the BJP would be decided after the elections. Addressing the media in Coimbatore, he said till now the BJP had not exerted pressure on the AIADMK for a coalition government and asserted that the number of BJP legislators would be in double digit this time. The BJP leader’s comments keep the coalition government option even while the AIADMK leader is repeatedly rejecting it.