An hour long between DMK president MK Stalin and the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K S Alagiri on Saturday has helped in resolving the outstanding issues in their ties.
Alagiri, who drove down to Anna Arivalayam, the DMK head quarters in Chennai’s Mount Road and was closeted with Stalin for nearly an hour. Later speaking to reporters , Alagiri said all was well between the two parties.
The ties between the DMK and the Congress had suffered a setback immediately after the announcement of the results of the local bodies in Tamil Nadu.
The TNCC chief had issued a release blaming the DMK for not observing the “coalition dharma” during allocation of seats and campaigning.
The comments made by Alagiri drew instant ire from Stalin, who boycotted the meeting of all prominent opposition parties called by Sonia Gandhi, the AICC president to rework the agitation and propaganda against the Citizenship Amenment Bill which had rocked the nation from day one.
T R Baalu, senior lDMK leader called on the Congress president and other leaders like Ahmed Patil and Ghulam Nabi Azad to convey the displeasure of the party on the statement made by Alagiri. “These things should have been discussed between the leaders of the two parties and it was not something which could be used to wash
the dirty linen in public,” Baalu had told.
Alagiri was summoned by Congress President Sonia Gandhi and it is reported that he was told in unequivocal terms not to do anything which would upset the DMK leadership.
The TNCC president, aftyer coming backj from New Delhi had called on Stalin and is believed to have expressed his regrets over the incident.
Meanwhile, Dorai Murugan, the second in command in the DMK, went overboard and declared that his party would not mind a damn if the Congress leaves the coalition. “The party is free to leave the coalition if they desire so,” said Murugan. It is an open secret that Murugan would not use such harsh words inless prodded by Stain.
These incidents added to the Congress leaders in Chennai resorting to a fire fighting mode and thus the Saturday meeting between Alagiri and Stalin.
The TNCC chief said after the meeting that there were in issues between the two parties and the DMK-Congress alliance would continue for the 2021 assembly election. Stalin, on his part , issued a release immediately after the meeting with Alagiri and asked his party cadre to maintain decorum and discipline while speaking about Congress and other front partners.