Chennai

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Friday said senior Indian National Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and M. K. Stalin will not campaign together for the April 23 elections in Tamil Nadu, citing separate pre-planned schedules.

Rahul Gandhi, who is the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, is scheduled to visit Chennai on Saturday to begin his election campaign. The Congress is contesting 28 seats as part of the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance.

DMK organising secretary R. S. Bharathi said Rahul Gandhi would campaign in one region while Stalin would campaign elsewhere, adding that both leaders already had fixed travel programmes and therefore would not be able to share a stage.

Bharathi was responding to remarks by K. Annamalai of the Bharatiya Janata Party, who had claimed earlier that Rahul Gandhi did not want the DMK-led alliance to win in Tamil Nadu and therefore would avoid campaigning in the state.

The DMK leader asserted that support for the alliance was growing rapidly as polling day approached. He also accused the Election Commission of India of acting as the BJP’s “B Team” across the country.

Bharathi said the party had filed a complaint with the Election Commission alleging BJP workers were going door-to-door collecting personal details, including voter ID numbers, while distributing sample cheques of Rs 10,000.

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He further alleged that members of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam were circulating pamphlets resembling vouchers, promising payouts of Rs 10,000 in line with election assurances.