With Tamil Nadu assembly polls due next year, alliance already under pressure for a variety of reasons.
Congress appears to have factored in the adverse political impact CBI and enforcement directorate (ED) probes into the 2G spectrum allocation scam could have on its alliance with Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu (TN). Former telecom minister A Raja of DMK is allegedly involved in the scam.
“We trust our allies and the trust is mutual,” Congress general secretary Janardan Dwivedi told the media on Wednesday evening.
Asserting that the Congress was committed to fighting corruption, he said even a reference to snapping ties with DMK would be a case of “stretching a point too far”.
Another senior party leader also stressed there was no strain on the alliance or danger to the UPA government, despite CBI raids on 27 premises belonging to DMK leaders and their relatives.
With assembly elections due next year in TN, the Congress-DMK alliance has already come under pressure due to a variety of reasons.
A strong section of the Congress state unit has been advocating parting ways with DMK and forging alliances with smaller parties to improve its bargaining power in the event of a fractured mandate in the state.
“All equations in coalition era depend on relative strength of parties. It is DMK that needs an alliance with the Congress, not vice-versa,” a party general secretary said.
The Congress sees the raids on Raja and family as an effective weapon in its larger battle against the Opposition on the demand for a joint parliamentary committee.
“If these raids are eyewash for BJP, they are being simply cynical and indulging in negative politics. If this is not the action they have been demanding, the question is what constitutes action for them,” Dwivedi retorted.
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