Congress MP slams 'horse-trading' in Tamil Nadu, says party can't take dual stand

Vijay has been elected as CM by people in anticipation of good governance and he seems to be keen to deliver it, the Karur MP said in a social media post.

Chennai: Congress MP from Tamil Nadu S Jothimani on Tuesday lashed out at "horse-trading" in the state and said the party cannot adopt different standards for TN and other states.

As an alliance party, Congress will stand with TVK founder and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay to deliver efficient governance, but "cannot support all the measures that TVK decides."

The Karur MP's remarks were apparently aimed at the controversy surrounding the resignation of three AIADMK MLAs and their joining the ruling TVK on Monday, a move dubbed as "horse-trading" by traditional Dravidian rivals DMK and AIADMK.

Vijay has been elected as CM by people in anticipation of good governance and he seems to be keen to deliver it, she said in a social media post.

Measures taken by the TVK should be aimed at strengthening democracy and not weakening it, and the Congress party's moral responsibility is to air any divergent views in such situations.

"It would be wrong if anyone from the Congress justified horse-trading. The first weapon that the BJP took to weaken democracy, and Congress is horse-trading," and used it against elected party governments, she alleged.

"Congress party can never take a dual stand of supporting horse-trading in Tamil Nadu and oppose it outside the state. If Congress performs as a force that weakens democracy, it will be a historic betrayal to Gandhi, Nehru and the ideology," she added.

She also highlighted party leader Rahul Gandhi's "uncompromising" struggle for principles.

The Congress, which had walked out of the DMK-led alliance post April 23 polls to support the maiden TVK government, is now part of the Vijay-led Cabinet with two ministers.