War of words between DMK and Congress over pre- and post-poll allegiances

The DMK and its former ally, the Indian Congress (INC), indulged in a war of words over the electoral defeat and the switching of sides after the elections on Saturday (May 23, 2026). A resolution adopted at the DMK youth wing meeting accused the Congress of backstabbing it after winning Assembly and Parliament seats with the efforts of DMK workers, alleging that Congress leaders were incapable of grassroots fieldwork. The meeting was attended by M.K. Stalin and Udhayanidhi Stalin. T.N. Congress Legislature Party leader S. Rajesh Kumar reacted strongly, saying the charge only showed that the DMK had learnt no lesson from its electoral defeat. In a statement issued in Chennai, Mr. Kumar, who has joined the Ministry headed by C. Joseph Vijay, said the Whistle symbol of the Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) had helped it win the election.

The DMK’s allegation was that the Congress won five seats in the Assembly election and, even before the election, had secured a Rajya Sabha seat with the DMK’s assistance. “But without any sense of gratitude, it switched camps overnight. The craving for power has blunted the brain of the oldest political movement, which could not follow minimum decency,” the resolution adopted at the DMK youth wing meeting said. The youth wing said such conduct was nothing new for the Congress, accusing it of surviving as a “parasite” and resorting to betrayal. “Congress wise men always make a hole in the boat they sail in. If they become part of the government, it is because of the votes polled in favour of a DMK government.

They have created history without realising that it was not their own victory. We condemn the Congress, which cannot win an election on its own and resorts to unethical acts of betrayal,” the resolution said. Rajesh Kumar countered the allegation, saying that at his first meeting in Vikravandi, Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay had declared that he would share power with alliance partners. “The people of the State accepted it and elected his party to power. Alliance partners who felt stifled in the DMK alliance accepted Mr. Vijay’s broad democratic principles and joined the Ministry. It is a political transformation unseen in Tamil Nadu in the last 60 years,” he said. Further, he argued that if the DMK had been confident of victory without alliance partners, it could have avoided forming alliances.

“But no one can deny the efforts taken by the DMK president to stitch together an alliance despite many uncertainties,” he said. Mr. Rajesh Kumar pointed out that both the DMK and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam had been unable to win elections on their own since 1967. “The DMK should wholeheartedly accept the people’s verdict and refrain from criticising its allies in a denigrating manner,” he said. He also said the alliance had been formed for mutual benefit and that the DMK had also received Congress votes in constituencies where it emerged victorious.