Will swim and sink with TMC: Azad

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, MARCH 5. The Congress' bad run continues unabated. A day after eight MLAs walked out of the party in West Bengal, there was bad news from Tamil Nadu as well, with the AIADMK virtually shutting the door on it.

Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad, AICC general secretary in charge of Tamil Nadu, made it clear that his party was not willing to compromise on the Pondicherry issue. ``We will not accept the PMK as part of the government,'' he told newspersons.

Congress leaders said it was not the number of seats but the inclusion of the PMK in the Pondicherry Government that was the problem. During their meeting with Ms. Jayalalitha, both Mr. Pranab Mukherjee and Mr. Azad had conveyed the party's strong views on the issue. ``We had told Ms. Jaylalitha that we will not allow the PMK to be part of the Congress-led Government,'' said Mr. Azad. The party would not have a problem with the AIADMK being part of the Government but would under no circumstances share power with the PMK.

Its leaders pointed out that the Congress has always been the dominant party in the area, and barring one election it had always won the lone Lok Sabha seat from the area. The Congress is the single largest party at the moment and believes that along with the TMC it would be able to form the next Government in the State.

In fact, the Congress' future plans in the State hinge to a large extent on the TMC and senior leaders maintained that the two parties would act in tandem. ``There is no change; both the TMC and the Congress will act in unison,'' Mr. Azad said. Mr. Azad was in touch with the TMC chief, Mr. G.K. Moopanar, in Chennai to ascertain his party's position.

Third front option

Virtually left high and dry by the AIADMK, the only option for the Congress now is to try and form a third front, with parties with caste-based outfits such as the New Justice Party and Makkal Tamil Desam. Even this depends on whether the TMC would go along or not. The Congress does not appear amenable to the idea of having a separate alliance in Pondicherry from the one in Tamil Nadu. ``They are linked and there is no question of delinking the two,'' Mr. Azad said.

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