Congress MP stands firm on demand for sharing power in Tamil Nadu after Assembly poll

Taking a tough stand on Congress’ demand for sharing of power in the State government following the Assembly election, MP B. Manickam Tagore on Monday said his demand stems from the fact that no party, “including the DMK, was poised to get a single majority.”

“The survey on vote share in the ensuing Assembly poll (by a private organisation) has predicted that no party…(including the) DMK will be able to form a government on its own. However, it has predicted the INDIA bloc will win the Assembly poll with a slender margin of 4%,” the Virudhunagar MP told journalists while clarifying on his social media post. In the post (made earlier in the day), he had said: “Now is not just the time to discuss the sharing of seats, but also the sharing of power.”

Mr. Tagore said the Congress was ready to share power with alliance parties in the Centre and in other States, and it was only expecting alliance parties to reciprocate the sentiment. “We are demanding share in power in the State government to implement the guarantees of the Congress party given to the people during the election campaign,” he said. Party general secretary Girish Chodankar and TNCC president K. Selvaperunthagai have already said this, he contended.

When asked about whether the political situation in Tamil Nadu has changed for the Congress to demand share in power, he said, “(INDIA bloc) needs the support of the Congress party to win (the election). We are also part of the alliance. If CPI(M) does not want to be part of the Cabinet, its okay. But we (Congress) want to be in the Cabinet,” Mr. Tagore said.

To a question on the genuineness of the poll survey, Mr. Tagore admitted any poll prediction would have an error margin of 5% to 8%. But, it has shown a direction favouring the INDIA bloc to win the election, he added.