Kharge speaks with CPI's D Raja, seeks support for TVK

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has spoken with CPI general secretary D Raja and urged his party to support the TVK for the formation of a secular government in Tamil Nadu, sources said on Friday. The Congress, a long-time ally of the DMK, on Wednesday announced its support to actor-politician Vijays TVK to form the government in Tamil Nadu and severed ties with the Dravidian major.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has spoken with CPI general secretary D Raja and urged his party to support the TVK for the formation of a secular government in Tamil Nadu, sources said on Friday. Sources said Kharge called Raja on Thursday to emphasise that the CPI should take an early decision so that the BJP does not get a chance to try and grab power through the backdoor. Raja is understood to have said that CPI will consult its local allies, including the DMK, and decide on it soon. The Congress, a long-time ally of the DMK, on Wednesday announced its support to actor-politician Vijay's TVK to form the government in Tamil Nadu and severed ties with the Dravidian major. The DMK dubbed the act of Congress to snap ties with it and join forces with TVK as ''backstabbing.'' The TVK won 108 seats in the 234-member Assembly in the April 23 polls. Though the Congress, which has five MLAs, has extended support to the TVK, the actor-politician-led party is still short of as many seats to touch 118, the majority mark. The CPI executive committee, which met here on Friday over support to the TVK, is involved in weighing the pros and cons, the party said. The Communist Party of India is keen on safeguarding its ideology and ensuring that a common minimum programme is followed in case the party decides to back the TVK, a source in the party said. The CPI won two seats in the April 23 Assembly election in alliance with the DMK. Earlier, CPI general secretary D Raja told PTI Videos that the party was keen on keeping the right wing away from the state. ''We will come to some conclusion and we want a stable government that will work in the interest of the state, keep away communal right-wing forces and uphold secular democratic values,'' Raja said, adding, the party's position would be clear by the evening