'Congress not winning horses': AIADMK's Jayakumar on Cong-DMK seat sharing issue

Taking a dig at the Congress party over the DMK-Congress alliance in Tamil Nadu, state minister and AIADMK leader D Jayakumar said, "They (Congress) are not winning horses. It shows that they don't have a smooth relation in their alliance". This statement comes when he was asked in a media briefing about his opinion on Congress' statement that it will not bargain for seats with DMK for Tamil Nadu Assembly elections which is due in next six months.

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Congress issues face-saver

Trying to hold the ground after the Bihar debacle, the Congress party had stated that it will not engage in a bargain for seat-sharing with its alliance partner DMK in Tamil Nadu elections. The statement was issued by Tamil Nadu Congress chief Dinesh Gundu Rao, who said, "We will not negotiate with the DMK on the distribution of seats in the Assembly Elections. The Bihar election results will not affect us. The political arena of Tamil Nadu is different." 

While the decision to form a coalition government if DMK comes to power in the 2021 elections is unclear, the statement issued by him reads, "Congress will support M K Stalin to become the Chief Minister."

However, owing to its poor performance in Bihar where the Congress managed to win only 17 out of the 90 seats contested, reports state that the grand old party may require to settle for lesser number of seats than expected. Questions were raised from allies in Bihar over Congress's poor performance. Even, the Samajwadi Party which was in alliance with Congress in UP has announced that it will contest independently going forward.

Moreover, leaders of the Congress in Tamil Nadu have complained about the lack of proper management and guidance in the party, one of them being Khushbu Sundar who switched allegiance to BJP, adding to the woes of the grand old party.

Also, on the national front, there is infighting in Congress with senior leader Kapil Sibal raising questions as to when will the party introspect over its defeats, while other leaders coming in defence of the top leadership. Such difference of opinions and infightings over the performances and leadership have been cited in the past too with no significant outcomes.

On the DMK front too, the party is dealing with internal turmoil as all is not well between DMK Chief M K Stalin and estranged brother M K Alagiri, with the latter making statements in the media that the party is most likely to see a split after 2021 Assembly elections, due to lack of leadership and infighting.

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