JUST SPAMMING | Strange Are The Ways Of Political Parties

There is nothing unusual about strange things unfolding in the run up to an election. So as the State looks forward to the 2026 by-elections, stranger things are unfolding in the political arena, particularly in the disparate opposition gallery, which, however, exhibits a unity in its common goal of defeating the ruling party despite the wide differences among them. That the common objective would not let them clasp their hands in solidarity is not strange for they all want to raise their hands individually in triumph. To put it otherwise, it is not that the different political conglomerates want to unseat the DMK from power but they also have aspirations to replace it on the throne themselves.

But what makes the present scenario stranger than usual is they are also simultaneously looking out for hands to hold on to during their fight for electoral supremacy. Since alliance is the key to brace the polls, as the parties feel, they are not only looking for new partners but are also reluctant to let go of present partners, which has only added to the bizarreness of the situation. While the ruling dispensation is a firm and robust coalition that calls itself the Progressive Secular Front with the DMK spearheading it, the main opposition party, the AIADMK, is part of the National Democratic Alliance, popularly known as the NDA helmed by the BJP.

Still the fight is unlikely to be a head-to-head confrontation between the two alliances. The fledgling Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) that has barged into the ring with a bang continues to cause ripples, skewing the alliance dynamics in the State. The latest development on the quest for alliances is the TVK, which had spoken not just about seat sharing in election but also about power sharing with allies post elections even at the party’s maiden conference at Vikravandi in 2024, forming a committee to identify potential partners. The pre-condition, however, would be that the allies should accept the TVK as the leader and its president Vijay as the Chief Ministerial candidate.

That, it looks, might not be a problem for many of the small and even national parties in the State that have been anyway playing second fiddle to one of the Dravidian majors ever since the alliance culture seeped into the State politics. There had been moments when the parties had shrugged, feeling that they could give a tough fight to the Dravidian majors by joining hands. But they failed miserably as it significantly happened in the 2016 Assembly Elections when the People’s Welfare Front (PWF) was launched with DMDK founder Vijaykanth in the forefront and many key leaders like Vaiko backing him. The experiment turned out to be a fiasco with the PWF polling close to 6 percent votes and letting the AIADMK sweep the elections.

Now, the TVK, having come into the scene as the third force when the DMK, along with its allies, continues to be the lead force and the NDA, purportedly led by the AIADMK in the State, as the second force, is claiming that the battle of the ballot in 2026 would be its direct fight with the DMK. Or, the TVK, by projecting itself as the potential alternative to the DMK that most of the parties want to vanquish, has set in motion strange moves by various parties. Even within the DMK coalition, behind the façade of unity and solidarity, there are signs of a brewing resentment. Some leaders in the Congress party have always been wanting to break free from the DMK with the hope that they will be embraced with warmth by the voter.

Whatever had been the basis for such an aspiration in the past, it seems to have surfaced again now. A few Congress leaders openly resent the alleged short shrift given to the party by the alliance leader, often expressing a desire for share in power, more seats to contest and enhanced importance within the alliance. In olden times, the party had also aligned with the DMK’s rival AIADMK but that possibility has now been ruled out as the AIADMK has now gone under the stranglehold of the BJP. So, the TVK opening its doors for allies should have given hopes and accepting Vijay as Chief Ministerial candidate should not be a problem for its leaders who anyway have to accede the top post either to M K Stalin or to Edappadi K Palaniswami, depending on the way they decide to swing.

It was in such a backdrop the long conversation that Vijay had with an AICC leader Praveen Chakravarty raised doubts about the Congress swinging towards the TVK. No one has so far denied the possibilities. Since Chakravarty, though not popular in Tamil Nadu Congress, is close to Rahul Gandhi, it was suspected to be the high command’s exploration of an alternative in alliance. Whatever it was, the TVK is suddenly being viewed as an alternative political pivot in the State, prompting strange behavior in some parties, though the fledgling party is yet to prove its mettle in political organization and in electoral competence to emerge as an alliance leader. In fact, the prominence it gets in the media is also baffling since it has not even contested an election, let alone winning one. If a leader’s political importance is gauged by the crowds he draws, recent tales of some Telugu actors tell a different story.