Congress no more friend, DMK wants distance and seat change in Lok Sabha
The alliance between the DMK and the Congress has been declared dead in the water after the latter's decision to side with the TVK in Tamil Nadu. The DMK wants to distance itself from the Congress even in Delhi. DMK MP Kanimozhi has written to the Lok Sabha Speaker, seeking a change in the seats in the House.
The INDIA alliance seems to be falling apart over the Congress's decision to dump the DMK in favour of an alliance with Vijay's TVK in a bid to form the government in Tamil Nadu. The DMK, which has accused the Congress of "backstabbing", is trying to distance itself physically from its decades-old ally even in Delhi.
In a letter to the speaker of the Lok Sabha, DMK MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi requested a change to the sitting arrangements within the Lok Sabha, reported the news agency, ANI.
In her letter, she stated that with the termination of her party's alliance with the National Congress, it would not be appropriate for DMK MPs to continue sitting alongside their Congress counterparts.
She urged the Speaker to make necessary arrangements to allot separate seating for the DMK members, to ensure they can continue to effectively discharge their responsibilities in the Lok Sabha.
"I write to respectfully request suitable changes in the seating arrangement of the MPs belonging to the DMK in the Lok Sabha," the letter read. "In view of the changed political circumstances and as our alliance with the Indian National Congress has come to an end, it may not be appropriate for our Members to continue occupying the present seating arrangement alongside them in the House..."
WHY THE DMK WANTS TO CHANGE SEATING IN THE LOK SABHA?
The DMK's request for new seating arrangements comes as the India bloc (an alliance of parties led by the Congress in opposition to the BJP-led NDA) is coming apart at the seams following the results of the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly Polls.
The election saw Vijay's TVK emerge as the single largest party, winning 108 seats, but shy of the required 118 seats required for a majority in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly. The DMK, meanwhile, was decimated, winning only 59 seats, with party supremo and outgoing Chief Minister MK Stalin losing his Kolathur constituency.
Sensing the change in the air, the Congress, which had won five seats, decided to tear up their longstanding alliance with the DMK, opting to instead throw in their lot with the victorious Vijay in order to "respect a strong public mandate for change and to ensure the formation of a secular government".
The Congress' decision to dump their 22-year-old alliance led to anger and consternation within the DMK, with senior leader TKS Elangovan declaring that "INDIA bloc is gone". The party also accused the Congress of "betrayal" and "backstabbing," saying the party had "not changed its old character." "What the BJP did to other states, Congress did to DMK in Tamil Nadu," one resolution passed by the party read.
Even as the top brass of the DMK and the Congress are distancing themselves, their grassroots cadre seem to have taken a far more physical approach. According to the news agency PTI, a clash broke out between Congress and DMK supporters in Mayiladuthurai on Friday, which saw, among other things, DMK workers desecrating Congress flags by running them over with buses.
In any case, Kanimozhi's letter to the Speaker of the Lok Sabha is another sign of the unravelling of the two-decade alliance between the DMK and the Indian National Congress, a partnership whose fate was sealed by the emergence of Vijay and his TVK.