Having very good relationship with DMK, says Rahul Gandhi amid cracks in alliance in Puducherry

Karur (TN), Jan 25: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday affirmed his party''s alliance with the M K Stalin-led DMK in Tamil Nadu, saying "we are having a very good relationship" with the Dravidian party.

The former Congress President''s assertion comes amid strains in the parties'' alliance in neighbouring Puducherry and whether it would have a bearing on their electoral tie up in Tamil Nadu.

"We are having a very good relationship with DMK. We have full respect for (late DMK chief M) Karunanidhi, full respect for Stalin ji and we have full faith in the alliance," he told reporters. Gandhi was responding to queries over ''issues'' in the alliance between the two parties in Puducherry.

Last week, cracks appeared to have developed in the decade-old alliance between the ruling Congress and DMK in the union territory just months ahead of the assembly polls, with senior leader S Jagathratchagan of the Dravidian party pitching for contesting all 30 seats.

The DMK has also been of late distancing itself from the Congress in the UT, leading to speculations that all is not well between the two. However, Gandhi on Monday said that "the aim of the (DMK-Congress) alliance is to stop the RSS ideology from coming into Tamil Nadu."

He alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was controlling the Tamil Nadu government by remote and "we are going to take away its batteries" in the coming elections, likely in April-May.