Tamil Nadu Congress Leaders Bracing for ‘Make or Break’ Meet

It is learnt that the select invitees for the Delhi meeting have also been given an option of conveying their thoughts on the alliance with the DMK – to continue or snap ties or demand more seats and share in power – in writing, rather confidentially, if they are not comfortable speaking out in the open.

Ever since Congress leaders, mostly at the national level, openly expressed their wish for power sharing and also for more seats to contest the 2026 Assembly elections, and the subtle messages on them preferring a tie-up with the Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) of Vijay emanated through social media, State level leaders found themselves caught in the horns of a dilemma.

While many leaders, most of them holding posts like MLAs and MPs, wanted the continuation of the coalition with the DMK without rocking the boat, many others wanted to press for a higher allocation of seats and also share in power. It was in that backdrop the meeting was called in New Delhi to enable the party top brass to understand the ground situation well.

Since many leaders and workers have become accustomed to working with the DMK in the past one decade, facing several polls of different kinds, there was a preference for maintaining the status quo. However, the emergence of Vijay in the political scenario has changed the aspirations and views of some leaders – AICC leader Praveen Chakravorty even met Vijay for a prolonged discussion.

What has peeved some Congress leaders is the DMK firmly saying that there was no scope for power sharing, saying that it was not part of the political tradition in Tamil Nadu. When the DMK was not averse to being part of a coalition government at the Centre and when other parties do not shy away from power sharing in other States, why should the DMK be so firm, the leaders ask.

Also there is a speculation of the Congress in the State breaking into two, if the high command decides to part ways with the DMK, on the lines of the split that happened in 1996, though there are no big leaders like G K Moopanar now to lead a group of dissidents.

The refusal to share power is the problem that is also likely to crop up in the NDA in Tamil Nadu since the AIADMK is not prepared to accommodate the BJP in the government if their alliance wins, while the BJP has been talking about an NDA rule in the State after 2026 polls.

Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to address a meeting at Madurantakam on January 23, the BJP has been urging the AIADMK to finalize the alliance before January 20 as the leaders have to be seated on the stage and the security protocol demands their identification in advance.

Vijay, on the other hand, is said to be waiting for the response from the Congress to finalise his party’s alliance. He is said to be not interested in accommodating too many parties and crowd the coalition.