INDIA bloc cracks as Congress snaps 11-year-old DMK ties

CHENNAI/NEW DELHI: Congress snapped on Wednesday its 11-year alliance with the DMK and threw its weight behind TVK, deepening fissures in INDIA bloc after DMK’s rout in Tamil Nadu. AICC in-charge Girish Chodankar met TVK chief C Joseph Vijay and pledged support of Congress’s five MLAs. “Congress-TVK alliance will continue for local body polls and 2029 Lok Sabha elections,” Chodankar said. The switch redraws the state’s political map and blunts INDIA bloc’s pitch of a united front against BJP. Congress framed its support as a move to “keep away communal forces”. “Is INDIA bloc still alive?” a senior Congress neta asked, citing frictions with regional partners. “We are still uncertain about numbers to form govt in Tamil Nadu. We will focus on INDIA bloc after this,” said Su Thirunavukkarasar. DMK netas hit back, branding the move “backstabbing”.Also Read | 'Backstabbers': INDIA bloc cracks out in open; DMK attacks ally Congress over support to TVK's Vijay in Tamil Nadu AICC spokesman Pawan Khera rejected the charge as unfair, recalling DMK’s 2013 break with Congress. “Two parties fight together to stop the rot. If we can form a govt with likeminded parties, what is wrong with it,” he said, defending the realignment with TVK, formed in 2024. The fallout comes as two key bloc partners — DMK and Trinamool Congress — have lost recent assembly elections, amplifying perceptions of a shaky coalition. Political observers warned the rupture dents bloc cohesion. “Congress has been adopting a high-handed attitude with allies... This trend would weaken the united opposition to BJP in 2029,” said commentator Suguna Diwakar. The shift could also make regional partners wary of Congress prioritising its own electoral calculus over alliance arithmetic. Congress netas said the gamble could pay if TVK is folded into the INDIA framework. The day’s tightrope was evident when Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi reached out to both DMK chief M K Stalin and Vijay after the results, as Congress sought to manage state-level realignments without capsizing the broader anti-BJP platform. DMK’s long, uneven partnership with Congress — forged, broken and revived multiple times — now faces its sharpest rupture in years, though signals suggested it may still remain within the INDIA tent nationally