B. Manickam Tagore File
| Photo Credit: G. Moorthy
Ahead of the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, the goodwill between the ruling DMK and its ally, the Congress, has suffered a severe jolt in the wake of continuous accusations levelled against the Dravidian party by a section of Congress leaders, particularly Virudhunagar MP Manickam Tagore and functionary Praveen Chakravarty.
The DMK leadership, it is reliably learnt, appears to have prepared itself for the outcome, whatever it may be. “Our party leadership is not inclined to call the Congress for seat-sharing talks if action is not taken against the two functioanries,” a senior leader in the DMK told The Hindu on Monday (February 16, 2026).
“Our leader is upset. We are certain Mr. Tagore would not be targeting us and repeatedly demanding a share in power without the blessings of the Congress high command. How do you expect us to sit with them and hold seat-sharing talks after Mr. Tagore has criticised our leadership and the party?” asked the leader.
On Sunday (February 15), Mr. Tagore said the Congress had shared the burden of the DMK’s mistakes (in 2014) and complained the Dravidian party had not taken action against one of its district secretaries in Madurai and minister, who reportedly went to the extent of saying that the Congress was free to leave the DMK alliance. The meeting of the Madurai South district unit of the Congress, in which Mr. Tagore participated, also adopted a resolution demanding a share in power.
The DMK leadership also suspects the Congress might be keeping its options open, as some leaders are reportedly interested in aligning with the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) launched by actor Vijay.
‘Leaving will benefit NDA’
A Congress MP agreed that Mr. Tagore would not target the DMK without the blessings of either Rahul Gandhi or other leaders in Delhi. “As a party, we have the right to take a political decision. But if we were interested in leaving the alliance, we should have prepared the ground at least a year ago. If we leave now, it will only help the BJP-AIADMK alliance,” he said.
The MP, too, felt Chief Minister and DMK president M.K. Stalin might not come forward to hold talks with the Congress if action is not taken against Mr. Tagore and Mr. Chakravarthy.
A DMK MP said whether it was Kalaignar (M. Karunanidhi) or Thalapathy (Stalin), they had always been accommodative when it came to the Congress, and that there was nothing that could not be resolved through negotiations. “We have conveyed our stand to the Congress leadership that power-sharing is not possible. The Chief Minister also made our position clear in a public forum. Still, Congress leaders are deliberately making noise, which will not augur well for the alliance,” the DMK MP said.
Asked for his comments, TNCC president Selvaperunthagai said the high-command already cautioned leaders against talking about the alliance openly. “It had formed a five-member committee, and the committee will hold seat-sharing talks with the DMK,” he maintained.
Published – February 16, 2026 03:46 pm IST
