Chennai: Constant needling from its alliance partners has pushed Tamil Nadu’s ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) to drop its confrontational approach to its ideological rival BJP after the Lok Sabha elections, ThePrint has learnt.
Meanwhile, a senior DMK leader told ThePrint that the party has decided to shed its differences with the BJP-led Union government on governance for strategic reasons because the state government has been reeling under a financial crisis with the Centre holding up critical funds for some schemes.
However, the DMK will not compromise on its ideology as it would cost the party dearly in the 2026 assembly elections.
Some say the DMK came under pressure from its INDIA bloc partners—the Congress party, the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and the CPI(M)—on a host of issues from law and order to the Samsung strike soon after the Lok Sabha elections.
“It was all because of the alliance partners, especially Congress. In the fight against the BJP, they should join hands with us, but they are behaving with a big brother attitude of questioning us in terms of ideology and governance, letting us alone in the fight against the BJP,” a senior DMK leader said.
“Only because of the change in stance, we have managed to get the funds for the metro rail project. But we are struggling to pay salaries for teachers as the Centre is yet to release the funds.”
Just days after Chief Minister M. K. Stalin met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to release funds for the second phase of the Chennai Metro rail project, the Union cabinet approved the project.
However, the Union government is yet to release funds for Tamil Nadu under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) which is 40 percent funded by the state government and 60 percent by the Central government.
Of the total Rs 3,586 crore approved for the scheme, the Union government’s share is Rs 2,152 crore and the state’s contribution is Rs 1,434 crore.
A DMK MLA said that talks are on to get central Government funds under the SSA scheme as well.
A two-time DMK MP confirmed the party’s change in stand on various issues involving the Union Government such as the privatisation of airports. “Earlier, we were told that we are against the privatisation of the airports and we raised the issue in Parliament. But now we have given up the land in Coimbatore for airport expansion without any condition just like the states supporting the privatisation of airports,” the MP said.
As it takes a more nuanced approach of separating governance from ideology, the DMK has also decided to avoid conflict with the governor on governance matters while maintaining a strong stance on ideology.
Govi Chezhiaan, the newly appointed higher education minister, told reporters on 10 October that the CM had instructed him to avoid conflicts with the governor and work for the welfare of students.
“The chief minister told me that the higher education department and himself would maintain a cordial relationship with the governor for the welfare of the state’s growth,” Chezhiaan told the media.
Political commentators said the newfound “cordial relationship” was a strategic choice and would not lead to an electoral alliance.
The reduction of friction will not only help the DMK with smooth governance but will also provide an opportunity for the BJP to gain ground and be seen as the second-largest party in Tamil Nadu where it has been trying to make inroads, said political commentator Raveendran Duraisamy.
“The DMK wants funds to run the government and most of the funds are stuck because of a conflicting stance with the Union government. So, it is the need of the hour for the DMK to get the pending funds for the smooth running of the government,” he added.
And with just 16 months to go for the 2026 assembly election, the DMK wants to clear all pending works and reduce the anti-incumbency factor.
“It is hard to nullify the anti-incumbency. But we want to reduce it as much as possible. To do that, we need funds, which the state government alone cannot manage. We definitely need the help of the Union government for funds,” a DMK MLA told ThePrint.
However, DMK organisation secretary T.K.S. Elangovan denied any change in the government’s stance. “There will be no compromise on the party’s ideology. And we will constantly push the Union government for the funds that we deserve.”
BJP’s Tamil Nadu vice-president Narayanan Thirupathy also maintained the parties remained ideological rivals.
The DMK and BJP have historically been at loggerheads over the years with language and education policies the biggest bones of contention between them. The only time the DMK and BJP had an alliance was for a brief period between 1999 and 2003 when the DMK led by former chief minister M. Karunanidhi was part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre.
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No electoral pact
Despite the thaw in relations between the DMK and BJP after the Lok Sabha elections, the possibility of an electoral pact is slim because of their deep-rooted ideological differences.
DMK Youth Wing Secretary and Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin’s controversial Sanatana Dharma statement last year would prove to be a major ideological roadblock for a formal tie-up between the parties.
At a conference organised by the Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers Artists Association in Chennai on 2 September 2023, Udhayanidhi said that a few things could not be opposed but had to be eradicated. “Just like dengue, mosquitoes, malaria or coronavirus need to be eradicated, we have to eradicate Sanatana,” he said.
On the other hand, sensing that the DMK’s allies have been exerting pressure on the ruling party, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami reiterated that the DMK alliance would break before the 2026 assembly polls and every time the DMK deputed its ministers to counter the narrative of the AIADMK.
But Stalin insisted the alliance remained intact. The CM cleared the air 25 October when he said there would be discussions and debates within the alliance, but it would still remain intact since its formation was based on principle and not power.
The Congress, VCK, CPI(M) and CPI also reiterated that the alliance was intact to face the polls, even if they questioned the DMK government.
“Just because we are in the alliance, does not mean that we should not question the state affairs. At the same time, questioning the ruling alliance party does not mean that there are cracks in the alliance. We are joined together with a common principle of opposing the BJP,” CPI(M) state committee secretary K. Balakrishnan told ThePrint.
Why a change in approach after LS polls?
While the BJP and DMK are rival parties ideologically, they have been cosying up in recent months. Signs of bonhomie were evident 9 August when BJP MLA Vanathi Srinivasan shared the stage with the chief minister at Coimbatore.
Since then, DMK and BJP leaders have shared the stage on at least three occasions, including a Chennai event to release a commemorative coin for Karunanidhi’s birth centenary.
Multiple DMK leaders who ThePrint spoke to confirmed that the party was facing attacks from multiple corners, which forced them to have a cordial relationship with the Union government.
“The alliance partners are pressuring us ideologically as well as at the governance level. Instead of putting pressure on us, they should take on the BJP, which they are not doing a lot of times. If we keep fighting with the Union government, we will lose in governance and it would create a bad name on the ground, which would reflect in the election,” said the DMK MP, quoted earlier.
The DMK’s alliance partners are miffed at the ruling party’s friendship with the BJP, but some DMK leaders believe the allies were trying to grow at the cost of the DMK.
“We don’t have any issue if our alliance partners grow in the state. But a party like Congress is trying to grow by weakening the DMK at the governance level,” a party functionary based in Chennai told ThePrint.
For instance, on 31 August, Congress leader and Sivaganga MP Karti Chidambaram sought a white paper from the Chennai Municipal Corporation mayor Priya Rajan on schemes and projects implemented to restore the Cooum River in the city.
However, all the DMK leaders ThePrint spoke to denied having any electoral pact with the BJP as it would disrupt the image it built in the last 10 years.
“The support we enjoy now in Tamil Nadu is because of our ideological stand. Giving up on it would disrupt our core vote base,” said the senior DMK leader quoted above.
Duraisamy said the BJP was more likely to benefit in the state from a realignment of relations with the DMK.
The BJP, which has been trying to gain ground in Tamil Nadu, vigorously fielded almost all its senior leaders, including state president K. Annamalai as well as his predecessors L. Murugan, Tamilisai Soundararajan and Pon Radhakrishnan in about 20 parliamentary constituencies it contested on its own.
It also roped in late actor Vijayakanth’s Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) and Rajya Sabha MP Anbumani Ramadoss’s Paatali Makkal Katchi party to contest the election.
The BJP secured a record vote share of 10.69 percent, the highest since it began contesting elections in Tamil Nadu.
“Now the party wants to portray itself as the second largest party in the state. So, it will clear all the demands of the state government and try to publicise that the projects were implemented overall by the BJP even if only a part of the project is funded by the union government,” Raveendran said.
The approval of the Chennai Metro Rail project is an example.
Stalin met Modi on 27 September and the cabinet approved the project on 3 October. On 30 September, BJP state president K. Annamalai wrote to the prime minister to consider sharing half the funds for the second phase of the Metro rail project.
“Soon after the cabinet approved, the BJP took credit for the same and claimed that it was because of the BJP state president that the state got the funds for the metro project. This is how BJP gets benefited out of it,” Raveendran remarked.
However, according to the project agreement, of the total Rs 63,246 crore, the Union government will contribute Rs 7,425 crore, and the state Rs 22,228 crore. The remaining Rs 33,593 crore will be a senior term loan availed from bilateral/multilateral agencies.
Needling after Lok Sabha polls
Needling by alliance partners started with Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K. Selvaperunthagai’s remark about expanding the Congress individually without depending on the DMK.
The Tamil Nadu Congress has been trying to rejuvenate the party since it won all nine seats it contested in the general elections with the DMK, as it sets its sights on what it can achieve independently in 2026.
“Having a relationship of camaraderie with the DMK is different and being dependent on the party is different,” he said at a party event in Chennai on 11 June.
He also claimed that the party had the capacity to bring back the Kamaraj rule in the State.
K. Kamaraj served as the Tamil Nadu chief minister for three consecutive terms from 1954 to 1963, when he resigned to assume the presidency of the All India Congress Committee.
Despite governing the state for two decades after Independence, the Congress has not had a chief minister in Tamil Nadu since 1967. Since 1967, it has been forging alliances with one of the two Dravidian parties—the DMK or the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK).
Selvaperunthagai’s comments had irked many in the alliance. However, ThePrint had learnt that later the Congress high command had asked the state leadership to maintain a good relationship with the DMK and not to strain the existing alliance.
“The differences in opinion between the Congress and DMK are just on stand-alone issues and those do not affect our alliance,” said a Congress spokesperson.
The DMK’s ties with the VCK have also hit the occasional speed bump. Just a month after the Lok Sabha results, Congress leader Selvaperunthagai and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) leader Thol Thirumavalavan questioned the law and order situation and demanded a CBI probe after the murder of Bahujan Samaj Party state president K. Armstrong.
Tensions also escalated when two months after the Lok Sabha polls, VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan triggered a controversy by inviting the AIADMK to its “prohibition of liquor” rally at Kallakurichi in Tamil Nadu.
Since the AIADMK is the opposition party, it was seen as a signal from the VCK for a possible alliance in the 2026 polls as the AIADMK had severed its ties with the BJP.
However, later VCK leader Thirumavalavan clarified that he had no intentions of joining hands with the AIADMK as the alliance with the DMK was intact.
Nevertheless, within a week, VCK deputy general secretary Aadhav Arjuna sparked another controversy by appealing for a share of power in government and criticising Udhayanidhi.
This had caused a rift between the DMK and VCK with DMK deputy general secretary and MP A. Raja demanding action against Aadhav for criticising Udhayanidhi. However, Thol Thirumavalavan again stepped in and put the matter to rest after meeting Stalin.
VCK’s general secretary Sinthanai Selvan told ThePrint that there was a ploy to dismantle the DMK-led alliance as it has been growing stronger by the day. “People, especially the Sangh Parivar, are not able to stomach the unity in the alliance for a long time. We are being forced to reiterate that our alliance is intact, despite having a cordial relationship,” he said.
However, the DMK found itself at loggerheads with another ally, the CPI(M), over its crackdown on a protest by Samsung Electronics workers at a factory in Sriperumbudur.
BJP functionaries extended their support to the state government in ending the strike backed by the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), which is affiliated to the CPI(M).
The DMK’s IT wing members and sympathisers along with BJP functionaries criticised the CPI(M)’s union in one voice for protesting against the manufacturing company. The union eventually withdrew the protest after 37 days when DMK ministers E.V. Velu and T.R.B. Rajaa held talks with the CITU labour union and Samsung to resolve the matter amicably.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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