DMK, a key ally of the Congress, on Thursday expressed solidarity with the alliance partner by sending its senior leader T R Baalu to welcome Rahul Gandhi at the Delhi airport after he was convicted by a Gujarat court in a defamation case.
DMK chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin issued a terse but strong statement terming the conviction as “highly deplorable and unprecedented". He also said the BJP's targeting of Opposition parties has now landed in the trampling of democratic rights.
Stalin, who spoke to Rahul Gandhi over the phone, told the Congress MP that he and the DMK will stand behind him. The development assumes significance as Stalin has been pitching for Opposition unity ahead of the 2024 polls by counselling parties that a coalition without Congress will “never reach the shore".
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“It's highly deplorable & unprecedented that a leader like Thiru @RahulGandhi is convicted for a comment which he himself said was not made with a blameworthy mind. BJP's targeting of opposition parties has now landed in trampling of democratic rights and such atrocities will see its end,” Stalin tweeted.
“I spoke with my brother #RahulGandhi and conveyed my solidarity. I'm confident that justice will win ultimately!,” Stalin added. DMK sources said Stalin deputed Baalu, the DMK’s Parliamentary Party leader, to receive Rahul Gandhi along with Congress MPs at the Delhi airport upon his arrival from Surat.
Stalin has been pushing Rahul Gandhi to lead the Opposition fight against BJP, especially in the context of the 2024 polls. On March 1, Stalin, in a message directed at TMC’s Mamata Banerjee, SP’s Akhilesh Yadav, and Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao, said Congress should be the fulcrum of the Opposition alliance, and rejected the talk of a Third Front as "pointless."
"Opposition parties should be united. At the same time, we should reject the talks about non-Congress alliance. It will not work out. Post-electoral alliance is also not practical. Talks of Third Front are pointless. It (Third Front) will never reach the shore. All political parties opposed to the BJP should understand this simple electoral arithmetic and stand united," Stalin said.
Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) chief and actor Kamal Haasan also came out in support of Rahul Gandhi, saying the country’s judicial system is "robust enough to correct aberrations in dispensation of justice."
"Rahulji, I stand by you, during these times! You have seen more testing times and unfair moments. Our Judicial system is robust enough to correct aberrations in dispensation of Justice. We are sure, you will get justice on your appeal of the Surat Court’s decision! Satyameva Jayate!!," Kamal Haasan said.
The actor had participated in the Delhi leg of Rahul Gandhi’s nationwide Bharat Jodo Yatra.