The TNCC president says that the DMK-led coalition, with a development-oriented manifesto, will win a major victory in this election.
Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) Chairman K.S. In an interview on Monday, he insisted that an “ideological alliance” led by DMK and its vote share would ensure a major victory for the front in the assembly elections. Edited excerpts:
Everyone in your party was insisting on getting a minimum of 30 seats from the DMK, but you finally came down to 25. What was the reaction of the party members?
From a practical point of view, he has accepted it. Although it seems to be deficient in the current political scenario, it has been accepted. All parties to the coalition came to a final decision. Everyone [alliance parties] More seats were asked for, but depending on the ground situation, everyone accepted what was given.
Do you believe that this is a political compulsion because the election was announced in such a short time?
None of the opposition parties expected that the election would be held soon. The ruling party was aware of this. But the way we have been allocated constituencies, we have not faced any political compulsion. Neither did they [DMK] Force us to take any seat.
Some AAP leaders are opposing the way the candidates were given seats in the party. Will it not affect you?
All parties in Tamil Nadu face this type of situation. We had 2,500 applicants for 25 seats. Apparently, apart from the 25 people named as candidates, there is bound to be some disappointment among others. We cannot say that this disappointment is not natural. Resolving this issue is leadership work and we have addressed it. They have understood it.
It is also alleged that the Congress has given seats to the relatives of the leaders …
We have not given seats to successors of Congress leaders in all constituencies. We have given it to some. Thongkabalu [former TNCC president] I did not ask for a nomination for my son, I did not ask for a ticket for any member of my family. Like how leaders work, their family members also work for the party. three [heirs] There is a small number of 25 seats [actually the party has fielded sons of five leaders and a relative of another]. It is not given to the unqualified. These people are ahead in those who deserve to contest elections. That is all.
This time how much internal quota system was followed for seat allocation?
For the first time, the quota system was not followed. Candidates were selected by merit only.
Why is there not a single female candidate?
We are going to announce women candidates. We have four seats to announce.
So will you announce four women candidates?
We are giving… there is no difference of view here. We will make an announcement soon. [But] It will not be on all four seats.
Your number [in the alliance] The last few are doing less than elections. From 63 in 2011, you are now down to 25 …
Maybe in the next election we will contest 200 seats. Anything is possible. In politics, you will see victory, defeat, highs and lows. Our objective now is to ensure the victory of the coalition. We are currently engaged in fieldwork. We have an action plan. We will have a big presence in the next election.
When negotiating with the DMK, one of the major issues was the “strike rate” of your party. What are your expectations this time?
In the Lok Sabha elections, we got eight of the nine seats allotted. What is the strike rate there? That strike rate is high. Why are you harming the past? Look at what happened recently. According to my calculations, we will win 90% of our seats, however given the current electoral scenario, we will win all our seats.
Do you believe that your alliance is likely to go in favor?
The vote share in our alliance is larger than the vote share of the AIADMK alliance. Even when we performed poorly, our vote share was much higher than the vote share held by AIADMK. Also, our alliance is an ideological one and has been strong for a very long time. But this is not the case in the AIADMK-BJP alliance. They have a lot of illusions. Our manifesto – DMK manifesto – is development oriented, will increase agriculture, create employment, help people at the margins of society, ensure social justice, improve education … These were the hopes and addresses of the people is. Declaration Form.
What do you make of the AIADMK manifesto, specifically its stand on CAA?
The CAA was implemented only because the AIADMK supported the bill in Parliament. They have made such a big mistake and are now saying that they will raise this issue [seeking revocation]The Who are they trying to fool; Voter? Or are they talking against the fact that what actually happened? If you take this one point alone from the AIADMK manifesto, it shows that they are just making false promises on everything.
Among other things, the party is also promising government jobs for one person in every family.
There are not many jobs in government. In the last five years, how many government jobs have they created? They could not do anything. These are all just election announcements. They are practically not possible. Many jobs have gone into the private sector. They cannot keep the promise and it is an attempt to fool voters.
When your coalition was in power, the Congress did not ask for a stake in power. Does Congress have a way in Tamil Nadu? BJP seems to be increasing its presence continuously…
After the 2021 vote, we will decide how to work on it. For now, asking for a stake in power is not a policy decision [DMK] The government that is about to be formed. The BJP growing in Tamil Nadu is a myth, or that the BJP is gaining support among the people of Tamil Nadu is an illusion created by the media. If you want to know the strength of our party, all you have to do is that our leader Rahul Gandhi got a huge crowd during the recent six days tour. The crowd we saw … no other leader has received such a welcome in recent times. None of these people were brought with money. Has such a crowd come for Prime Minister Narendra Modi or any other BJP leader? We do not have that kind of fund. Confidence arose from Mr. Gandhi and the Congress.
Assuming that Rahul Gandhi won all the seats allotted to you in the districts he visited, would it be his victory or that of the party?
It is both. Rahul Gandhi and Congress are no different.
Do you believe that Coimbatore South will be a tough competition for you?
Kamala hasan [MNM] And Vanathi Srinivasan [BJP] May look strong on paper. But in the public forum, based on the vote share of our coalition, our candidates [Mayura Jayakumar] Only you will win. We do not believe that Mr. Haasan’s party will divide our votes [in any constituency].
Do you expect minority votes to go towards your coalition? Is MNM likely to get some votes?
People usually see who can meet their demands. Mr. Haasan’s team is small. It may not make a big impact in elections. DMK’s coalition is a large one and its vote percentage is large. People will not vote for a team that cannot win. They may prefer a party or leader, but when people know that their chances of victory are slim, they will not vote for them. Our alliance is now the strongest and people will vote for us.
In the last election, every party talked of total prohibition. No party is talking about it at the moment. Why?
Now the political scenario has changed. This is a policy decision. Although it has not been brought during the election campaign, its seeds remain and will be implemented soon.
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