'Wholly bogus': Cong rejects report claiming Rahul sought AIADMK's support for Sinha

Congress on Sunday described as "wholly bogus and totally false" reports that its leader Rahul Gandhi telephoned AIADMK leader Edappadi Palaniswamy seeking support for the Opposition Presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha while emphasising that its alliance with DMK stands firm and can withstand "crude and mischievous efforts" to weaken it.

Issuing a statement, Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh said no such phone call was made.

He said a "so-called news item" has appeared claiming that Rahul called up Palaniswamy seeking support for Sinha.

"This is wholly bogus and totally false. No such phone call was made. The DMK-Congress alliance is firm and steadfast enough to withstand such crude and mischievous efforts to sow confusion and weaken it," Ramesh said.

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A columnist in a leading English newspaper has claimed in her column that Rahul called the AIADMK leader after BJP announced Droupadi Murmu's name as its candidate.

The columnist claimed that Rahul was suspicious of the DMK since its representatives stopped short of announcing categorical support for the joint Opposition candidate. However, it was pointed out that senior DMK leaders attended two Opposition meetings and attended a press meet announcing Sinha's name.

It was also claimed election strategist Sunil Kanugolu had arranged the call between Rahul and Palaniswamy. The columnist also went on to claim that Rahul wanted to keep Congress' options open in the 2024 elections as DMK was lukewarm on its support on issues like the National Herald case.

Congress and DMK are in an alliance for years in Tamil Nadu and Rahul and Stalin are said to share cordial relations. In February this year, Stalin had chosen Rahul to release the first volume of his autobiography.

The DMK had also expressed its reservations about Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee seeking to take the leadership on arranging meetings on Presidential polls.