BJP tried to stitch a coalition government in Tamil Nadu with the DMK and its arch rival AIADMK on May 4, the very day of counting of votes polled during the Assembly election, accused Congress’ Virudhunagar MP, B. Manickam Tagore on Sunday (May 24, 2026).
An important leader of the BJP spoke to the AIADMK and the DMK leaders for facilitating the coalition, he claimed.
“DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin, quickly jumped for this coalition idea with the sole motive of stalling TVK president C. Joseph Vijay from becoming the Chief Minister, but failed in his attempt,” he alleged.
Mr. Tagore's claim comes against the backdrop of Mr. Udhayanidhi Stalin launching a sharp attack on the Congress, a day earlier.
According to him, the DMK wanted to make AIADMK general secretary, Edappadi K. Palaniswami, the Chief Minister with its outside support to prevent Mr. Vijay becoming the CM.
TVK leaders were made to wait repeatedly by the Governor in inviting them to form the government as the entire drama was enacted by the BJP, he further claimed. “We got wind of the development immediately ... but we did not reveal it then,” the Virudhunagar MP said.
He said the same information has been shared by CPI (M) leader M.A. Baby, VCK leader Thol. Thirumavalavan, AIADMK leader C. Ve. Shanmugam and IUML leader Kader Mohideen.
“The DMK will soon strike an understanding with the BJP. DMK’s 22 MPs will either walk out of the Parliament or abstain from voting (against the BJP-led Centre),” he charged.
Pointing to the DMK having asked the Lok Sabha Speaker to allocate different seating arrangement away from the Congress, after the latter unilaterally severed ties with it, Mr. Tagore wondered will the DMK sit in the ‘centre’. “Gradually, they would extend their support to the BJP,” he added.
Mr. Udhayanidhi has brought DMK to a stage where the party is likely to give up all its ideologies for which it had stood all these years, he believed.
Condemning Mr. Udhayanidhi for making strong remarks against the Congress leaders, Mr. Tagore said the Congress men knew how to repay the DMK.
All the claims of the DMK about upholding secularism and not harming the TVK government for the first six months were only a pretence. All that the Congress wanted was to prevent the BJP from making direct or indirect entry into Tamil Nadu governance.
“The DMK believed that all its alliance parties would fall for its claim that the AIADMK had broken away from the BJP and expected them to support the AIADMK Government. And if TVK leader became the Chief Minister, it would be under the control of the BJP. However, since the Congress did not give any room for the DMK to make any such manipulations, the DMK is spewing venom against the Congress,” he charged.
INDIA alliance still remained strong and will continue to fight against the Modi Government in the Centre, he said.
All India Congress Committee in-charge for Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, Girish Chodankar, on Sunday responded to DMK’s criticism of the Congress by stating the “attacks should not be on the people of Tamil Nadu who voted”.
In a social media post, Mr. Chodankar said, “Every political party has the right to criticise us, and we will not be provoked by it. But no one should question or disrespect the democratic mandate given by the people of Tamil Nadu. The people of Tamil Nadu are politically mature and vote with wisdom and clarity.”
Mr. Chodankar said that the Congress “consciously chose not to respond to personal criticism against our leaders or our party”. “If we had wanted to, we could have reminded everyone of the great betrayal of 2014 Lok Sabha elections, after a decade of enjoying key portfolios and power. But we did not. Knowing well that they have never repeated a government again in Tamil Nadu’s history, we still joined the alliance despite having winning options. We believe in respecting the verdict of the people with humility and magnanimity,” he said.
Published - May 24, 2026 05:54 pm IST
Tamil Nadu / All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam / Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam / Indian National Congress / Bharatiya Janata Party / Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam / state politics / alliances and coalition / coalition
Source: The Hindu - India News
