Is the Congress shooting itself in the foot over the alliance with the DMK in Tamil Nadu? The DMK has always been a staunch supporter of the Congress and a key player in the INDIA bloc. MK Stalin the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister was one of the first to fly to Bihar during the SIR agitations spearheaded by Rahul Gandhi and this elevated the protest from just a Congress one to a consolidated Opposition effort. Within Parliament too, where other allies have sometimes not supported the Congress such as the TMC and at times the SP, the DMK has always stood steadfast by Rahil Gandhi’s side. This is why the current stance of the Congress, in flirting with the actor turned politician Vijay’s newly launched TVK has not gone down well with its old ally.
The Congress point of view is being articulated by two of Rahul Gandhi’s loyalists, one is the Virudhunagar MP Mannickam Tagore and the other is wannabe Rajya Sabha MP Praveen Chakravarty. The duo have been advocating a tie up with the TVK and this has not gone down well with the DMK or even some of the local Congress MLAs and leaders. What Tagore and Chakravarty are advocating for is that the Congress should be given a larger number of seats and some berths in the state government. Given the duo’s proximity to Rahul Gandhi this demand is being seen as one that has RaGa’s blessings. However, the DMK is equally adamant that while the number of seats could be negotiated (the Congress is asking for 44 while the DMK wants to give 25); it is not going to give the Congress any ministerial berths. The DMK strongly feels this would go against the ethos of the Dravidian party if it allows a national party the visible optics of running the state.
The state has been ruled by Dravidian parties ever since 1967 and if the DMK allowed the Congress a seat at the council of ministers, this could backfire politically. Recently this stance was voiced by none other than the state chief minister and DMK leader MK Stalin when he ruled out power sharing in the cabinet for the Congress though he added that the alliance was intact. The DMK is also not happy with the fact that sundry Congress leaders (specially the aforementioned duo) went ahead and reiterated the Congress demand for ministerial berths, after Stalin had spoken. “Do our MPs contradict Rahul Gandhi when he takes a stand in Parliament?” asked a very senior DMK leader.
Coalition dharma as the Congress is learning the hard way, is a two edged sword. What the DMK wants is power at the state level and they are happy to support the Congress – or if pushed to the wall, even the BJP, as has been the case in the past – at the centre. While the Congress is not at fault for wanting the best deal possible for itself, it does need to factor in the holistic picture of taking on the BJP pan India. It should also be concerned if MK Stalin fields his son in law on a Rajya Sabha ticket to the centre. An entrepreneur, Sabarisan Vedamurhty has a good equation with the BJP leadership.
Interestingly Dr Kanomozhi who is currently liaising between the Congress and the DMK will also be looking for a Rajya Sabha renomination as her term is said to end in April 2026. Kanimozhi has a good working rapport with both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul. Another Rajya Sabha hopeful is Praveen Chakravarty. However the DMK has made it clear to the Congress that there is no way it would support Chakravarty either for a Rajya Sabha berth or a Lok Sabha ticket. This could also be one reason why Chakravarty is pushing for an alliance with Vijay instead of the DMK.
State Congress leaders also blame those close to Rahul for hyping up the anti incumbency against the DMK government. “They have convinced
Rahul that an alliance with Vijay would distance the Congress from the anti incumbency against the state government” says a Congress MLA from the state. While this may well be the case, it remains to be seen if that would be enough to sweep a TVK-Congress alliance to power. Or will it divide the vote in such a way that while it ensures the DMK’s defeat it could also end up paving the way for a AIADMK-BJP alliance
in the state.
More to the point, while Vijay is getting the crowds, his electoral strength is still untested, and one concern amongst the local Congress unit is – What if he goes the way of Prashan Kishor ? Also Congress leaders who have been supportive of the DMK government in the state need time to change their narrative. They cannot praise MK Stalin one day and criticize him a week later, that too right on election eve.
The question then arises, has the Congress left the decision of alliance partners too late and too close to the elections?
That is a decision that needs to be taken, sooner than later.