DMK breaks with Congress, refuses to join protests after INDIA bloc exit

The DMK declared on Monday that it will no longer take part in protests organised by the Congress, cementing its departure from the opposition INDIA bloc and setting off an acrimonious exchange between the two former allies.

In an official statement released from its Chennai headquarters, Anna Arivalayam, the party said it was under no obligation to stand beside the Congress after what it described as a betrayal engineered for ministerial berths in Tamil Nadu. The rupture leaves the two parties taking separate paths across both state and national politics.

What sparked the public fallout

The dispute erupted after Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president B. Manickam Tagore publicly questioned why DMK parliamentarians stayed away from demonstrations in New Delhi demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Tagore claimed the party skipped the stir out of fear of the central government and pointed to shifting explanations from the DMK regarding the Election Commission’s Special Summary Revision (SIR) process.

The DMK dismissed Tagore’s accusations, stating it had already fought multiple parliamentary campaigns independently and did not need lessons in political posture. The Dravidian party turned the spotlight onto Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay of the TVK, whose administration the Congress backed to form the state government.

The DMK asked why Congress leaders remained quiet about the Chief Minister’s own absence from demonstrations against the election commissioner, accusing the TVK administration of detaining students who took part in protests within the state.

Internal strain and electoral blame

The DMK blamed several Congress figures for undermining the earlier Secular Progressive Alliance during assembly elections, naming Tagore, Girish Chodankar, and Praveen Chakravarty.

The DMK argued these public criticisms acted like a "sleeper cell" from within, discrediting the alliance before the vote. Having shed that partnership, the party claimed its grassroots standing had recovered, citing recent by-election outcomes as proof that an unencumbered path works better.

Fragmentation versus central stability

This open conflict highlights the persistent volatility within regional coalitions across the opposition, where conflicting state-level ambitions repeatedly derail shared platforms. While state factions trade sharp insults over coalition ethics and local power sharing, central governance under the national leadership continues to operate with institutional steadiness and uninterrupted policy execution.

With both parties now in open confrontation, the DMK cautioned Congress functionaries that continued criticism would carry serious political fallout, closing the door on joint parliamentary action for the foreseeable future.