Backstabber, immature, weakening INDIA bloc: DMK’s all-out attack on Rahul Gandhi

The DMK accused its former ally Congress of using “underhand tactics” to stop INDIA bloc partners from winning Assembly elections, only to seek their support during Lok Sabha polls. It also alleged that the Congress, with Rahul Gandhi’s blessings, had “backstabbed” the party in the recently concluded Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, leading to the collapse of their decades-old alliance.

In an editorial in its official organ Murasoli, the DMK mocked Rahul Gandhi for speaking about unity at the recent INDIA bloc meeting, calling it a case of delayed realisation.

The paper said his remarks came after he released his June 11 speech from the meeting, at a time when allegations by INDIA constituents against the Congress were being widely discussed and pressure had mounted on the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha to publish the speech on the Congress website.

Murasoli asked whether Rahul Gandhi himself was not the person who had damaged opposition unity in every state. It further claimed that the Left parties, the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal had all strongly criticised him and said his conduct had weakened opposition cohesion.

The editorial said the remarks made by CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas at the INDIA bloc meeting were particularly important. Referring to Kerala, it said the Congress and the CPI(M), both influential parties in the state, had fought each other in the Assembly elections held in April and nobody had objected to that direct contest.

It then described Rahul Gandhi’s allegation during the campaign as absurd, citing his question: “Why hasn’t PM Modi arrested Pinarayi Vijayan? There is a secret deal between the two.” According to the DMK paper, the CPI(M) treated that as a serious charge.

Murasoli said it had reproduced Brittas’s criticism of Rahul Gandhi at the bloc meeting. According to the paper, Brittas said Rahul had spoken blatant lies during the Kerala campaign by alleging a secret understanding between the Left and the BJP, and had added that the Left did not need a certificate from the Congress to prove its anti-BJP credentials.

The editorial also referred to CPI general secretary D Raja’s reaction to Rahul Gandhi’s remark that “the Left is no longer the Left”, saying Raja had called it a sign of political immaturity. It added that while Rahul had defended himself by saying he spoke on facts and had argued that the Left government brought Adani to Kerala, Left parties had hit back by alleging that it was the Congress that brought the conglomerate to the state.

The DMK daily also cited Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav as saying that the exit of the DMK and AAP from the INDIA bloc was a major setback.

According to Murasoli, Akhilesh had said the issue should be examined seriously to decide whether the alliance should continue on the same path. The paper also said RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav had raised doubts over whether there were secret understandings between Congress and BJP leaders in Bihar on several issues, and had said that despite taking up the matter repeatedly with the Congress leadership, nothing was done to correct it.

The editorial further said Rahul Gandhi had remarked that he could not hug Pinarayi Vijayan. It responded by asking whether he was not the same person who had hugged Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Parliament. It then cited Marxist leader Baby as saying: “No one asked Rahul Gandhi to hug Pinarayi Vijayan. Instead, we are asking him to stop acting as an assistant to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Modi government by demanding the arrest of Pinarayi Vijayan and other opposition leaders. That is not the job of an opposition leader.” Murasoli asked what Rahul Gandhi’s answer to that charge was.

Against the backdrop of the Congress leaving the DMK-led alliance and joining the ruling TVK, Murasoli said everyone knew what had happened in Tamil Nadu.

It alleged that the “backstabbing” of the DMK by the Congress while still remaining in alliance had happened with Rahul Gandhi’s blessings. It also said Rahul was now trying to play the good boy only after the leader of the party the Congress had joined had distanced himself by saying, “I won’t join INDIA alliance.” The paper referred to Rahul Gandhi’s assurance, quoting him as saying he was “100 per cent” certain and could vouch for the DMK.

Murasoli asked again whether it was not shameful for the Congress to work against INDIA partners in state elections and then ask for their backing during Lok Sabha polls. It also claimed that Akhilesh Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav, Omar Abdullah, the NCP and the VCK had all levelled charges against the Congress over the way the DMK was treated, and that Rahul Gandhi had not expected such a response.

The editorial said the reason anti-Congress sentiment occupied more space than anti-BJP sentiment at a meeting convened to oppose the BJP was Rahul Gandhi’s “immaturity and lack of integrity”, and said he should take responsibility. It noted that Rahul had said the Congress would accept the criticism from INDIA bloc parties, but asked what difference that made now.

Referring to his comparison that the Congress should swallow criticism like Lord Shiva drank poison, the paper said that even in the mythological story, Shiva did not create the poison, and asked who in the INDIA alliance had churned out poison instead of nectar.

Murasoli also reproduced parts of Rahul Gandhi’s speech. In it, he said: “What is coming now, after what has happened in Iran, is uncontrollable. It is uncontrollable, and it is going to create a space for us to mobilise the masses. Also, get rid of the notion that we are not coordinated and do not act together. These are all ideas the BJP is putting out. This is not true – I am 100 per cent sure, and I can vouch right now for the DMK. When it comes to defending the idea of India, every single person will be in this room.”

“We have our fights, but if you are asking me to go and hug the ex-Chief Minister of Kerala – I cannot and I will not, because I have an on-going political fight with him. So we have to be flexible and we have to realise that there is a full-scale assault on us, trying to prove that the opposition is weak,” he added.

The DMK editorial used those remarks to renew its attack on the Congress and Rahul Gandhi over opposition unity, Kerala campaign statements and its handling of allies, including the DMK, within the INDIA bloc.