DMK stoutly opposes Congress leaders’ demand for a share in power in Tamil Nadu

As a section of Congress leaders intensified its demand for a “share in power” as a condition for continuing the alliance with the DMK for the 2026 Assembly election in Tamil Nadu, highly placed sources in the ruling party rejected the proposal outright. “Such an arrangement [a coalition government] will not work in Tamil Nadu,” a highly placed source in the DMK told The Hindu on Sunday (December 28, 2025). The source indicated that the party leadership would remain firm in its decision.

The demand gained momentum after All India Congress Committee Tamil Nadu in-charge Girish Chodankar, who is heading the seat-sharing committee, made out a case for including his party in the next government. “We will have a full-fledged manifesto committee and our own vision for Tamil Nadu. Our leaders will come to Tamil Nadu and announce various guarantees. Naturally, to fulfil the promises we make in the manifesto and to realise the vision we have for Tamil Nadu, we have to be part of the government,” he told a news agency recently.

He contended that though the Congress had not been in power in the State for 58 years, its workers “are charged” and “working” day in and day out. His views were endorsed on Sunday by Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president K. Selvaperunthagai, who said power-sharing was essential to fulfil the promises made to the people.

Senior leaders of the DMK are upset that despite a good rapport between Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the national party has failed to act against some of its functionaries who are openly calling for snapping of the ties and joining hands with actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam.
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Congress leaders supported the demand by pointing out that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had shared power with his allies, though he had the number to form a government on his own. However, the DMK leadership is learnt to have not taken kindly to such arguments. Senior leaders of the ruling party are upset that despite a good rapport between Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the national party has failed to act against some of its functionaries who are openly calling for snapping of the ties and joining hands with actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK).

The seat-sharing committee itself was formed by the Congress national leadership to dispel rumours that it might consider an alliance with the TVK. However, views expressed by some Congress functionaries, including Praveen Chakravarty who heads the Professionals’ Congress and Data Analytics, have created considerable resentment in the DMK.

Mr. Chakravarty on Sunday taunted the DMK by disputing the claim of its parliamentary party leader Kanimozhi that the Stalin government had transformed the debt-burdened Tamil Nadu into a developed State. “Tamil Nadu has the highest outstanding debt among all States. In 2010, Uttar Pradesh had more than double the debt of Tamil Nadu. Now, Tamil Nadu has a higher debt than Uttar Pradesh. Tamil Nadu’s interest burden is the third highest after Punjab and Haryana. Tamil Nadu’s debt-to-GDP ratio is still much higher than pre-COVID levels. The State’s debt situation is alarming,” he posted on social media. Mr. Chakravarty had also met met Mr. Vijay recently.

The argument put forward by Congress leaders demanding a share in power is that they supported the DMK between 2006 and 2011 without any expectation, though the DMK did not have the strength required to form a government on its own. However, DMK leaders counter that the PMK was also part of the DMK-led alliance then and supported it without any such expectation.

Asked about the Congress’s demand, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member G. Ramakrishnan said his party, an ally of the DMK, was not making any such demand. “If any of the allies makes such a demand, it is for the DMK leadership to decide,” he said.