Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Tamil Nadu’s new Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on taking oath, and assured the Centre would still continue to work with the state to improve people’s lives.
PM Modi, however, attacked the “backstabber” and “parasitic” Congress party which is an ally of Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), with an acerbic swipe over abandoning its longtime friend, DMK.
“Just look at the situation in Tamil Nadu right now. For 25-30 years, the Congress shared a close relationship with the DMK. Time and again, the alliance with the DMK pulled the Congress out of crises,” PM Modi said.
“Indeed, the government it [Congress] led for 10 years before 2014 survived largely because of the DMK. Yet, the very DMK that consistently worked for the betterment of the Congress was betrayed the moment the political winds shifted,” the prime minister said.
“Driven by its lust for power, the power-hungry Congress stabbed the DMK in the back at the very first opportunity. Now, Congress needs yet another party, one on whose back it can ride, to remain politically relevant,” PM Modi said.
Vijay’s new cabinet of nine ministers has a mix of young and experienced leaders, with the TVK chief’s core team finding a place. But no leader from Rahul Gandhi’s Congress – the first party that agreed to support the TVK when it needed the numbers to reach the majority mark – entered the new Tamil Nadu cabinet.
Political analysts say there were telltale signs during the campaigning phase that the Congress party had been keeping a close eye on Vijay. Congress MP Rahul Gandhi was said to have put a lot of faith in Vijay’s chances of making it big in Tamil Nadu politics, so much so that the Congress did not attend several meetings called by the DMK ahead of the election.
What PM Modi said today about the Congress was, however, already conveyed by the DMK itself soon after it learnt about the Congress’s support to Vijay’s TVK to reach the majority mark. “Backstabber” is the criticism that appears frequently in the comments.
“The Congress has done to us in Tamil Nadu what the BJP does in many states,” a DMK resolution in the presence of former chief minister MK Stalin said on Thursday.
“The Congress has committed a great betrayal by stabbing our party leader in the back, not even coming in person to thank him for the victory. But he (Stalin) showed tolerance and acted with generosity and responsibility,” the DMK said.
Stalin’s party said the Congress has not changed its old character.
“The Congress was allotted one Rajya Sabha seat and 28 assembly seats in our alliance. It shifted to an alternative party within three days, risking the victory achieved through the hard work of its coalition members,” the resolution said.