05-07-2009, 03:00 AM
<b>Confused Cong picks up Rahulâs debris</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Party says no change in allies, but Mamata on warpath
First, <b>Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh claimed the party was ready to sit in the Opposition</b>, then Rahul Gandhi stepped in to undo the damage by sending feelers to Nitish Kumar, Left parties and their Third Front partners. And now faced with furious reaction from the UPA allies, the Congress has suddenly remembered the âcoalitionâ dharma.
<b>But the damage seems to have been done. While Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has threatened to walk out if the Left was in, the DMK leadership is livid over Rahul's âhelloâ to Jayalalithaa. The postponement of Congress president Sonia Gandhi's joint meeting with DMK at Chennai has added grist to the rumour mill, and the DMK cadre have reportedly stopped campaigning for the Congress candidates.</b> A week before the State went to the poll, the DMK-Congress alliance seems to have developed yawning gaps.
<b>Things could not have been messier for the Congress and UPA on the eve of the fourth phase of Lok Sabha poll for 85 seats across eight States. </b>
With allies fuming over the Congress attempt to solicit support of the âenemiesâ, the UPA âBig Brotherâ on Wednesday went for another round of course correction. This time talking how it valued its allies, who were treated as âunwantedâ lot by the Congressâ heir apparent a day earlier.
Seeking to mollify the Trinamool Congress chief, the Congress said the alliance with the Mamata-led party was âvery preciousâ and it would ânot do anything to undermine itâ.
âWe have a very precious alliance with Mamata Banerjeeâs party and it is permanent. We will not take even a single step forward to subvert the agreement with the Trinamool Congress. We will not at any cost undermine this agreement. This trust will continue between us,â said Veerappa Moily, senior Congress leader and partyâs media-in-charge, on Wednesday<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
First, <b>Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh claimed the party was ready to sit in the Opposition</b>, then Rahul Gandhi stepped in to undo the damage by sending feelers to Nitish Kumar, Left parties and their Third Front partners. And now faced with furious reaction from the UPA allies, the Congress has suddenly remembered the âcoalitionâ dharma.
<b>But the damage seems to have been done. While Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has threatened to walk out if the Left was in, the DMK leadership is livid over Rahul's âhelloâ to Jayalalithaa. The postponement of Congress president Sonia Gandhi's joint meeting with DMK at Chennai has added grist to the rumour mill, and the DMK cadre have reportedly stopped campaigning for the Congress candidates.</b> A week before the State went to the poll, the DMK-Congress alliance seems to have developed yawning gaps.
<b>Things could not have been messier for the Congress and UPA on the eve of the fourth phase of Lok Sabha poll for 85 seats across eight States. </b>
With allies fuming over the Congress attempt to solicit support of the âenemiesâ, the UPA âBig Brotherâ on Wednesday went for another round of course correction. This time talking how it valued its allies, who were treated as âunwantedâ lot by the Congressâ heir apparent a day earlier.
Seeking to mollify the Trinamool Congress chief, the Congress said the alliance with the Mamata-led party was âvery preciousâ and it would ânot do anything to undermine itâ.
âWe have a very precious alliance with Mamata Banerjeeâs party and it is permanent. We will not take even a single step forward to subvert the agreement with the Trinamool Congress. We will not at any cost undermine this agreement. This trust will continue between us,â said Veerappa Moily, senior Congress leader and partyâs media-in-charge, on Wednesday<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->