DMK slams Congress for 'trading trust for berths'

NEW DELHI: DMK Sunday mounted a furious pushback against Rahul Gandhi's describing any support to govt's widely speculated move to revive the bill to increase Lok Sabha's strength, coupled with delimitation of constituencies, as a betrayal of Tamil Nadu amid buzz in political circles that the regional party may come around to backing the measure.A day after Rahul, during his visit to Tamil Nadu, said any party supporting the constitution amendment bill in Parliament will be a 21st century Ettappan, a historical figure reviled for treachery, senior DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran came out with a blistering retort. "These are the people who traded our trust in them for mere ministerial berths," he said, lashing out at "poisonous snakes" which sell trust to "buy" power, a reference to Congress's decision to snap ties with DMK and TVK.Maran's strongly worded rejoinder captured the lingering sense of betrayal within the Dravidian party over Congress's swift embrace of its rival after the national party went to the poll as DMK's ally and was fully backed by the latter on all key issues, including Rahul's leadership, in national politics through its years in office.BJP is hopeful that DMK's bubbling anger with Congress will help its bid to win over the party's support for its key legislative measures, especially delimitation, in Parliament, even though govt has so far not taken any official step to revive the bill that was defeated by a united Opposition in the last session.DMK has anyway indicated its openness over the issue, saying it will take a call after studying the bill and insisting that the proposed law should not harm south India's interests.Rahul's comments are also a nod to the acknowledgement in Opposition camp of the possibility of DMK revising its stand on a bill which, opposition parties have alleged, will allow BJP-led governing alliance to reconfigure constituencies to its advantage for the 2029 Lok Sabha poll.Targeting Rahul, Maran added, "Those who come to Tamil Nadu and stay silent about Cauvery rights are traitors. Those who only talk about irregularities in the exam, rather than insisting on completely abolishing NEET are traitors. Those who condemn BJP's horse-trading but ignore TVK's disgusting horse-trading are merely continuing that betrayal."Get the latest India News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.