The art of the deal: Congress bargains hard in alliance talks with DMK

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• Congress leaders in Tamil Nadu demand more seats and power sharing from DMK
• AICC advises Congress to stick with DMK and avoid public disagreements
• Power sharing demands likely to be rejected at upcoming TNCC executive meeting

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Asking for more and settling for less is the usual Congress recourse in alliance talks in Tamil Nadu.

Before every Assembly election there is a ritual in Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC): some members make demands for more seats from the DMK and for power sharing if the alliance wins the election. But the decision is finally left to the party leadership, the AICC, to decide on the alliance and the leadership decides to stick to the ‘reliable’ alliance partner in the state, DMK.

This time too, as the Assembly election is due in two-three months, there is the usual bickering between some Congress and DMK functionaries. The demand for more seats and power sharing, voiced by MP Manickam Tagore, is now coupled with a new demand for change of alliance by a member Praveen Chakravarthy, who wants the Congress to go with actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) as it would give the party more seats to contest.

But after the crucial AICC meeting on Saturday, where these state leaders were heard, the leadership advised them to stick with the DMK and not to be harsh with them or make public statements independently. “They have to speak in one voice," senior leader KC Venugopal told the media after the meeting.

The demand for power sharing and increase in number of seats to contest, which was stronger this time, would be discussed at an executive meeting, chaired by TNCC president K Selvaperunthagai, in Chennai on Tuesday. Indications are that the demand for power sharing would be struck down.

Congress, which ruled the state since independence, yielded power to the Dravidian forces in 1967 when DMK dealt a stunning defeat to it. Since then, either the DMK or the AIADMK has ruled the state and Congress had no option but to be part of an alliance with either one of them. Its vote share in the state gradually deteriorated.

Over the past two decades, a strong bond has emerged between the Congress and the DMK, dominating the Lok Sabha election in Tamil Nadu and they won the 2021 Assembly election together. But as the number of alliance partners grew in the front, DMK, which leads the Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA), was hard pressed to reduce the seat quota to its major alliance partner in 2021. This led to protest by Congress cadres and it took a long time for an understanding to emerge on the seat sharing.

While Congress contested 41 seats (won eight ) in 2016, the party was given only 25 seats to contest in 2021. When Congress won 18 out of 25 seats garnering 4.3 per cent of the vote share (DMK won 133), there was again a demand in the party for power sharing in the government. But it was turned down by the DMK. So this time the demand for better seat share and power sharing began since the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and was much louder and stronger. The Congress and the DMK functionaries openly traded charges.

The SPA comprises 10 to 12 partners including the Congress, Communist parties, other Dravidian parties, IUML and others. It is no doubt a herculean task to work out seat sharing. In fact, the DMK had to reduce its own quota of seats in 2021 to accommodate the alliance partners.

If anyone is to be blamed for Congress’ position in the state today, it is the party itself. It thrived on the popularity of its creamy layer representation and never took efforts to reconstruct its support at the grassroot level. There were TNCC presidents in the past who did take efforts to revive the party at the grassroot level, but they did not get the support of the leadership in Delhi or from the ‘stalwarts’ from the creamy layer. The party remained faction ridden and survived as an alliance partner.

Today, even for election campaigns, it is the DMK cadres who work for Congress candidates, to ensure SPA victory. Under such circumstances DMK’s reluctance to part with more seats seems justified.

The Congress argument is that since the DMK was accommodated by the Congress in the UPA, the Congress should demand power in the state.