Chennai, May 6 (IANS) The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on Wednesday launched a sharp attack on the Congress after it decided to extend support to Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief C. Joseph Vijay in the post-election political realignment in Tamil Nadu.

In a strongly worded statement, DMK Treasurer T. R. Baalu accused the Congress of betraying the alliance and abandoning the mandate given by the people under the Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA).

Baalu said the statement issued on behalf of the Congress had exposed the “true nature” of the party, which, according to him, had remained hidden for a long time.

“Whenever the Congress party faced difficult situations or crises, the DMK stood firmly beside it as a close ally. We paid a heavy political price for that support, but accepted it wholeheartedly,” he said.

Recalling the long-standing relationship between the two parties, Baalu referred to the DMK’s ties with Congress leaders including Sonia Gandhi, late former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and Rahul Gandhi. He said DMK President M K. Stalin had consistently stood by Rahul Gandhi politically and personally.

Stalin had proposed Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections at a time when even the Congress leadership was hesitant to officially project him, he recalled.

According to Baalu, the Congress had now “shamelessly defected” its five MLAs to the opposition camp after contesting and winning as part of the DMK-led alliance.

“The attempt to mask opportunism with a policy facade is laughable. It is a blatant betrayal of the people who voted believing that a DMK-led government would be formed,” he said.

Drawing a comparison with the BJP, Baalu alleged that the Congress had adopted similar tactics to “capture power through shortcuts” in Tamil Nadu.

“Congress can support whoever it wants. That is its prerogative. But political ethics lie in respecting the mandate of the people who voted,” he added.

Despite the setback, Baalu asserted that the DMK was not new to either defeat or betrayal and said that “time will give the answer”.

–IANS

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