DMK to skip INDIA bloc meet after fallout with Congress over Tamil Nadu polls

Key points

• The MK Stalin-led DMK has decided to stay away from the proposed INDIA bloc meeting scheduled in New Delhi on June 8, as the rupture in its ties with Congress, triggered by the dramatic political realignment in Tamil Nadu after the Assembly elections, has now widened.
• The fallout follows the Congress's decision to back actor Vijay's TVK in forming the government in Tamil Nadu despite being a long-standing ally of the DMK.
• The move triggered sharp reactions from DMK leaders, who publicly accused the Congress of "betrayal" and "backstabbing", arguing that the party abandoned a decades-old partnership for political expediency.
• "We wanted to stay away from a meeting in which the Congress is participating.
• Congress betrayed and backstabbed us.