CHENNAI: The Congress’ seemingly relentless push for a better deal from the DMK in the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly polls and beyond continued on Monday, with party MP Manickam Tagore seeking “share in power, not only share of seats”.
The remark, which came on the back of moves by Praveen Chakravarty to cosy up with TVK leader Vijay, triggered a war of words with the alliance leader DMK, which accused Tagore of creating confusion among cadres.
In a post on X, Tagore cited a recent survey and said alliances remained the political reality in Tamil Nadu and that the time had come to discuss power-sharing alongside seat-sharing. “Time for share in power, not only share of seats,” he wrote, while asserting that no party could win elections in the State without an alliance.
Tagore is neither the TNCC president nor a member of its official committee handling alliance matters. Such statements weakened the Congress rather than the alliance.
– TKS Elangovan, senior DMK leader and official spokesperson
Reacting sharply, DMK spokesperson TKS Elangovan said Tagore was neither the Congress State president nor a member of the party’s official committee handling alliance matters. He criticised Tagore for airing his views publicly instead of raising them within his party, and claimed such statements weakened the Congress rather than the alliance.
Joining in, former Rajya Sabha member MM Abdulla alleged that the remarks echoed a “finished voice” and risked creating unnecessary confusion among cadres of alliance parties at a time when they were working in unison for the INDIA bloc’s victory.
Alliances are a political reality in Tamil Nadu, and no party can win polls here without being in a coalition. Time to discuss share in power, not only share of seats.
– Manickam Tagore, MP and Congress Whip in LS
Responding to Abdulla, Tagore reposted remarks made by Girish Chodankar, AICC’s Tamil Nadu in-charge, who heads the five-member panel holding talks with the DMK for the upcoming Assembly elections. In an interview to a news agency on December 22, Chodankar had said that to fulfil promises made during the polls, the Congress should be part of the government. That statement reflected the official position of the Congress, Tagore said.
Meanwhile, D Ravikumar MP, the general secretary of alliance partner VCK, said when divisive forces sought to destabilise Tamil Nadu, democratic forces must prioritise safeguarding the State’s stability. He recalled that similar debates were triggered last year following comments by VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan on power-sharing.