NEW DELHI: DMK on Tuesday said it would not attend the INDIA bloc meeting scheduled for September 30, asserting that it is no longer part of the opposition alliance after Congress broke ties with it and extended support to Vijay’s TVK following the Tamil Nadu assembly elections.DMK spokesperson TKS Elangovan said several parties were reluctant to attend the meeting due to differences with Congress. However, he said that the party is “ideologically” united and share the objective of opposing Bharatiya Janata Party.“Congress had chosen TVK in the state for the sake of two ministerial berths. So, we could not. They have said that they will continue with TVK. They are not in our alliance. How can we support them? How can we go to the meeting called by them,” Elangovan said.“Many of the parties there do not want to go with Congress, but ideologically, they are united. They share the same view and will oppose the BJP. Therefore, they do not need to attend an INDIA bloc meeting because every party knows the issues and is in line with the Congress. Attending the meeting alone is just a formality,” he added.DMK had also skipped the INDIA bloc meeting held in June. However, the party later signed a letter to Chief Justice of India Surya Kant over the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and other election-related issues.Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav will also miss the meeting as the party has called a state-level farmers’ conference in Lucknow. A senior SP leader will attend the meeting on behalf of the party.However, Elangovan accused blamed Congress for Akhilesh’s absence and said, “He (Akhilesh) is also skipping the meeting. That is because of Congress. They had chosen TVK in the state for the sake of two ministerial berths. So, we could not… They have said that they will continue with TVK. They are not in our alliance. How can we support them? How can we go to the meeting called by them.”Earlier on Monday, Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said Yadav had a prior engagement related to Rajya Sabha election nominations.
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“Well, that Rajya Sabha election nomination is there. That’s what he told the Congress president. Senior leaders from his party, all other seniors are coming. And we will decide what the next course of action is in the meeting,” he said.Venugopal also said the Congress’s next course of action would be discussed at the upcoming meeting.Meanwhile, the opposition alliance is set to hold a high-level meeting to discuss the SIR process amid recent reports of differences within the Election Commission.The meeting is also expected to discuss a proposed removal motion against Kumar, including the possibility of collecting signatures from opposition MPs.
