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Congress, TMC decide to work together

''The Congress and TMC are very close to each other and we shall take a decision together,'' All-India Congress Committee General Secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad told reporters after a hour-long ''very fruitful'' meeting between TMC president G K Moopanar and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to discuss the situation arising out of the PMK's admission into the alliance.

A final decision on the crucial issue will be taken next week, after the TMC executive committee meeting on Monday in Madras, and the Congress talking to AIADMK supremo Jayalalitha to apprise itself of the arrangement between her party and the PMK, Azad said in the presence of Moopanar.

This, he said, was necessary as ''we are not aware whether the PMK would extend outside support or inside support'' to the AIADMK-led front. ''We have to get a clarification on a number of things. We shall have to talk to the AIADMK,'' he said.

On the possibility of the Congress and TMC going in for a Third Front, Azad said, ''There was no discussion on this issue''.

PTI

Tara Shankar Sahay adds: Sonia and Moopanar were earlier engaged in a battle of wits, with each trying to outdo the other in extracting maximum advantage for their parties during the assembly polls in Tamil Nadu.

" It is natural for political parties to gain maximum possible advantage for themselves during any situation," Moopanar told reporters in a brief interlude.

But that was all he revealed before his meeting with the Congress chief, which had been postponed by a few hours.

"Of course, the Congress has to weigh the pros and cons of any alliance in Tamil Nadu. Our party leaders were here on Thursday in this connection and met our party chief. Today, Moopanar will meet Sonia to explore the possibility of a Congress-TMC alliance in the state," party spokesman Prithviraj Chavan had stated.

He, however, cautioned that "all sorts of reports are emanating in the media which indulge in speculation regarding what the Congress would be doing in Tamil Nadu. I can tell you that nothing has been finalised and that the battle-lines will be clear etched only after Sonia Gandhi takes a decision," he had added.

On the possibility of Moopanar driving a hard bargain with Sonia for the perceived Congress-TMC alliance in the state, Chavan pointed out that "every party has its compulsions. We will be looking at our side of the story and they theirs."

With the new-fangled AIADMK-PMK tie-up in Tamil Nadu triggering a political realignment in the state, the TMC leadership has rushed to Delhi in a bid to clear the decks for the proposed alliance with the Congress.

Moopanar was accompanied by senior party colleague Jayanthi Natarajan and the two have armed themselves with arguments for getting the upper hand in their meeting with the Congress chief.

However, Congress leaders maintained that while all efforts would be made to make the TMC an ally of the Congress in Tamil Nadu, the latter's interests could not be sacrificed at the cost of "accommodating the TMC".

"The Congress is a national party and it has to see things in a national perspective. Of course, our leadership will give a patient hearing to our potential allies. But we all have to ensure that the maximum political advantage naturally accrued to our party," Janardhan Diwedhi, senior party leader, had stated.

He did not think that the party leadership would agree to a "scheme of things" wherein it gained short-term advantage at the cost of long-term strategy.

On reports that the TMC chief may chart out an independent course if its alliance with the Congress failed to come off, Diwedhi said, "All this is in the realm of speculation."

"Such crucial decisions are not made overnight. I think Moopanarji will have to consult his party colleagues before disclosing its electoral strategy (to the media) for the assembly polls in Tamil Nadu," he added.

AICC sources pointed out that Moopanar and Sonia were under pressure from party members to maintain distance from the AIADMK-PMK combine since the PMK openly touted its pro-Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam stance.

Sonia has to tread carefully on the issue of forming an alliance with the AIADMK-led combine in the state where the PMK is also present because state party chief E V K S Elangovan has already gone on record as saying that Ramdoss' party is not acceptable to the Congress because of its blatant pro-LTTE stance.

Moopanar too is under pressure because party leaders like P Chidambaram have made no secret of their dislike for any tie-up with a political combine (in Tamil Nadu) which has the PMK.

That the National Democratic Alliance led by the Bharatiya Janata Party is trying to woo Chidamabaram into the DMK fold (thereby cocking a snook at the Congress-inclined Moopanar) is no secret.

The BJP leadership, as indirectly hinted by party leader K Jana Krishnamurthy, is making no bones about seeing a part of the TMC (read Chidambaram) cross over to the DMK.

The difference of opinion between Moopanar and Chidamabaram about what course the TMC should adopt in Tamil Nadu has also spawned reports about a split in the party.

" Watch out for Moopanar's statement in Madras in the next two days and you will know whether the Congress-TMC alliance crystallises or he (Moopanar) goes his own way," Diwedhi added.

EARLIER REPORT
Moopanar rushes to Delhi, may seek 'carte blanche' from Sonia

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