Chennai: The February 28 event to release Part-1 of DMK President and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin’s autobiography (political journey) on his birthday eve, and the visit of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi for the function will be a politically significant one as it will sow the seeds for bringing together the anti-BJP parties under one umbrella.
The ruling DMK has already reached out to several top National leaders and his counterparts in Kerala, Telangana and West Bengal and extended an invitation for the event, which political observers see it as a move to forge a front of regional parties against the BJP. DMK Parliamentary Party Leader T R Baalu personally handed over the invite to Congress President Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi last week and she has decided to depute Rahul Gandhi, who will release the first part of Mr Stalin’s autobiography “Ungalil Oruvan” (One among you).
Sources said that the event is an attempt to bring together leaders of non-BJP political parties in the country. DMK had been opposing various schemes of the BJP-led NDA at the Centre, including the National Education Policy, the amendments to CAA and the Farmer’s laws, besides seeking exemption for Tamil Nadu from NEET, for which an unanimous resolution–the second in five months–had been adopted in the State Assembly and forwarded to the Governor for getting the Presidential assent.
The function, to be held at the Chennai Trade Centre on Monday, will be attended by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah, besides several top national leaders from the CPI, CPI(M) and other parties. While inaugurating the 45th book fair recently, Mr. had Stalin announced that the autobiography would cover the first 23 years of his life up to 1976.
“The book will cover school and college days, entry into politics, first meeting and my public speech, marriage and the days of emergency. This will be come up for sale in the book fair,” he said. During his trip, Mr. Gandhi would also interact with the newly-elected Congress members of civic bodies. There is a clear political message in the timing of Mr. Gandhi’s visit as it comes barely two weeks after All India Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee reached out to Mr Stalin as well as the Telangana counterpart K.Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR) to forge a front of regional parties against the BJP.
While Ms. Banerjee asserted that the Congress could go on its own way, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) President KCR, followed up on the issue of forming a front of like-minded regional parties by calling Janata Dal-Secular leader and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, Nationalist Congress Party Chief Sharad Pawar and Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena Chief, Uddhav Thackeray recently. In a related development, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram today called on Mr Stalin and congratulated him for the DMK-led Front’s resounding victory in the last week’s Urban Local Body polls.
