Congress and the Left make common cause with DMK

Despite divergent stands taken by the Congress, the Left parties and the DMK on the 10% quota for economically backward sections of the “open category” during the debate on the issue in Parliament, the national parties insist it will be a smooth sailing with the DMK.

Their common ground is their objective to defeat the BJP at the Centre and the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu.

While the DMK strongly opposed the Bill on the quota till its passage in the Rajya Sabha, the Congress, whose president Rahul Gandhi was proposed by DMK leader M.K. Stalin as a Prime Ministerial candidate, welcomed the idea.

The Left parties, the CPI(M) and the CPI, also supported the legislation.

Explaining the reason behind the decision to support the Bill, Congress spokesperson A. Gopanna said that it had been a long-pending demand in many States and it was the Congress that enacted the legislation before it was quashed by the Supreme Court.

Even Periyar was for proportional representation of communities while implementing reservation, he contended.

Social justice

The Congress in the past too was not in agreement with the stand taken by the DMK on issues such as demanding Eelam in Sri Lanka or release of seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.

“But, the Congress and DMK are for social justice. We are together in the fight against the communalist and Hindutva forces,” he argued.

CPI(M) MP T.K. Rangarajan, who hails from Tamil Nadu, maintained that his party as well as the DMK were for sending the quota issue to the Select Committee.

He pointed out that his party moved a legislation for implementing the 10% quota for economically backward section in the private sector too.

Asked about the comments made by him in the Rajya Sabha to which DMK MP Kanimozhi had objected, Mr. Rangarajan claimed that as a party representative he had to make observations, which was the stand of his party’s Politburo.

Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) general secretary D. Ravikumar maintained that it was only natural that different parties had different opinions on various issues.

“That’s why there are different political parties. The different stands taken by these parties would not in any way affect their common objective to defeat the BJP and the AIADMK,” he insisted.