Differences between Congress-TMC always existed: Yechury

Bangalore: With ties between Congress party and coalition ally Trinamool Congress (TMC) hitting rock-bottom, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) politburo member Sitaram Yechury has said differences between the two had always existed ever since the inception of their alliance.

"See, there had always been internal conflict between them (Congress party and Trinamool Congress) since the beginning. These two parties had joined hands with the sole aim to defeat the CPM in the elections. They even took the help of Maoists and other opportunistic factions to meet this objective in the elections," Yechury told the media here.

The alliance of the TMC and the Congress had run into troubled waters on several issues like the passage of bill for the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the domestic retail market or the recent issue of the Lokpal Bill.

Strains were visible during the parliamentary debate on the anti-graft Lokpal Bill last week, when TMC did a volte-face and opposed certain provisions in the government-draft of the legislation.

Despite several attempts by the government, the TMC has so far refused to budge from its stand on the issue, leaving the Congress party fuming. The TMC and Congress have voiced their differences on several platforms in the past on the issue of price rise too.

Meanwhile, Yechury also reflected on the nationwide anti-graft movement spearheaded by veteran social activist Anna Hazare, stressing it had been successful in meeting its primary objective.

"Anna Hazare and his team had started their movement with the objective to highlight the rampant corruption in India. This objective has been fulfilled. Now, it is natural that there will be internal conflict between the team members. Some of the members support one political party while the others support another. This is quite natural. However, the aim with which they had carried out their mass movement has been successful," added Yechury.

Tapping into a groundswell of discontent over corruption scandals in UPA government, Hazare has been demanding for legislation that envisages the creation of an all-powerful Lokpal to bring corrupt politicians, bureaucrats and judges to book.