New Delhi:
The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) – a bloc of Opposition parties formed in 2023 to take on the BJP – will likely endure in Tamil Nadu despite the Congress and the DMK parting ways following the former’s support to Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), said P Chidambaram on Saturday. He also stated that the actor-politician, DMK chief MK Stalin’s staunch rival and the next chief minister, should be persuaded to join the uneasy coalition.
After high-intensity drama, Vijay on Saturday submitted the letters of support by 120 MLAs – two more than the majority mark – to Governor AV Arlekar and will take the oath as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu on Sunday morning. It was made possible by the Congress’s support of 5 seats, which it won in alliance with MK Stalin’s DMK.
The DMK has called the Congress’s act “betrayal”.
The split in the Tamil Nadu alliance has sparked speculation that the DMK might separate itself from the national alliance.
“In my view, the INDIA Bloc should exist. And I hope it will, it will exist. Because MK Stalin, the President of the DMK, has not said a word about the INDIA bloc,” Chidamabaram, a senior Congress leader, told NDTV.
Highlighting the internal contradictions that have been the hallmark of the alliance since it was formed, the leader said many of the allies of the national alliance were the Congress’s rivals in their respective states.
“He has not said anything averse or adverse to the INDIA alliance. He has only said that the Congress and the DMK have parted ways. But we have parted ways with several other parties at the state level, yet we remain in the alliance. The best example is Kerala. CPI and CPM are opposed to the Congress in Kerala. Recently, the LDF was defeated by the UDF. But at the Delhi level, the INDIA alliance, the CPI and the CPM are part of the bloc. Similarly, in Bengal, after the election results, Mamata Banerjee has reiterated and emphasised that she will work to strengthen the INDIA bloc. So I don’t see any reason why the alliance shouldn’t exist,” he added.
He said his new ally, Vijay, should also be convinced to join the bloc.
“I hope that the DMK will remain in the INDIA alliance. I even hope that the TVK can be persuaded to join the INDIA alliance,” he said.
The DMK, with 22 MPs, is the fourth largest constituent of the INDIA alliance. The party won 59 seats and the Congress 5.
After it was clear that the TVK’s 108-seat tally would not be enough, the Congress offered its support to Vijay. After hectic negotiations, the TVK chief convinced the Left parties, IUML and VCK to enter the post-poll alliance, scraping through his first political crisis since the elections.
DMK leader Kanimozhi on Friday wrote to the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, requesting that the seating arrangement of the party’s members be changed from their current positions next to their former ally.
Also read: Congress Backs Vijay’s TVK, Expects 2 Positions In His Cabinet: Sources
MK Stalin Criticises Congress
MK Stalin, in a post on X on Saturday, complained that he wasn’t consulted by the Congress at all before supporting Vijay, while other allies did.
“The Congress MLAs who contested and won on behalf of the alliance did not come to Anna Arivalayam to express their thanks. On the same day, the Congress party severed ties with the DMK and proceeded. At the same time, Communist leaders Comrade Shanmugam and Comrade Veerapandian, along with Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi party leader Thirumavalavan, have announced that they will continue to join hands with the DMK and fight for the rights of Tamil Nadu and the welfare of the people, thereby expressing a sense of camaraderie and demonstrating their trust in the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, which is strong in policy,” he wrote.