This is an updated version of the report originally published in July 2025.
Chennai: As the Congress steps up its demand for greater power-sharing within the INDIA bloc ahead of the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, the DMK has maintained a studied silence, triggering fresh political chatter in the state’s alliance dynamics. While Congress leaders have publicly indicated the need for a “more equitable role” in governance, the ruling Dravidian major has so far refrained from offering any formal response.
Nevertheless, after a high-level meeting with the Delhi leadership on 17 January, the Congress high command has asked its workers to refrain from making public comments on the alliance.
The debate gained traction after senior DMK leader and former Union minister A. Raja, speaking at a private event recently, said he personally favoured power-sharing at the Centre but believed states must continue with single-party governance. Though Raja clarified his comments reflected his personal views rather than the party’s official position, his remarks have been widely interpreted as an insight into the DMK’s long-held approach towards alliances.
Political observers note that the current unease echoes a historical pattern in Tamil Nadu politics, where Dravidian parties have relied on allies for electoral arithmetic but resisted sharing executive power. Even during periods of coalition politics at the national level, the DMK has traditionally drawn a clear line between its approach to governance in Delhi and its authority in the state.
The demand for share in power was not just within the DMK alliance. There were similar demands from the BJP as well as within the NDA alliance led by the AIADMK party.
Since the BJP and the AIADMK renewed their alliance in April 2025, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has repeatedly asserted his party will be part of the NDA government in Tamil Nadu after the 2026 assembly elections, only to receive sharp rejections from the ally.
The latest rejection followed Shah’s 27 June reassertion, with political analysts in the state saying the AIADMK’s firm refusal stems from its desire to preserve its Dravidian identity and avoid alienating voters in a state where single-party rule has prevailed even when the Dravidian parties failed to get a clear majority.
Ever since the Dravidian party entered the electoral foray, although they contested the election with alliance, they never shared power with their partners, even when they failed to get a majority on their own.
In the 2006 assembly election, for instance, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) could not secure a majority—it won 96 seats while the majority mark in the 234-seat assembly was 118—and its alliance partners including the Pattali Makkal Katchi and the Congress supported the government from outside.
In the past, the AIADMK also contested elections with the alliance partners but never needed to share power with them as it won a majority of its own.
The AIADMK and the BJP had not formed an alliance for a state election until 2021, when they joined hands in Tamil Nadu the first time. But they failed to get a majority.
Although the two major Dravidian parties have depended on their allies for bolstering chances in elections, political analysts in the state say the senior parties never want the smaller parties to grow in the state beyond a certain point.
Analyst A Ramasamy said the Dravidian parties partner with their smaller allies to garner votes but not to share power.
“The Dravidian parties really do not want the alliance partners to grow at their cost. Election after election, we could only see that the dravidian parties are trying to reduce the number of seats allocated to the alliance partners depending upon their previous election performance,” Ramasamy told ThePrint.
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‘Coalitions cause chaos’
Speaking to ThePrint, political analyst N Sathiya Moorthy said the people of Tamil Nadu have never been in favour of alliance governments as they believe it will not be stable.
“Tamils have a deep-rooted belief that coalitions cause chaos, even if they don’t know the history. This idea, passed down by past leaders and voters, makes the coalition government seem unstable,” Moorthy told ThePrint.
However, the idea of coalition governments has found favours among smaller allies.
“But, in the current political scenario, the expression of interest should come from the dominant Dravidian parties and not from us. Only when these two Dravidian parties become weaker so much so that they fall short of forming a government, then, other parties which have the numbers to support the government can demand a share in power. Until then, it will just be a discussion in Tamil Nadu,” Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) general secretary Sinthanai Selvan told ThePrint.
Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam general secretary Premalatha Vijayakanth told the media in Chennai Monday she is for a coalition government. “When the elections are fought together, why not form a government together?” she said, adding it was for the dominant players to decide.
When asked about it, DMK spokesperson TKS Elangovan told ThePrint there is no necessity to talk about a coalition government.
“None of our alliance partners has demanded it. Even when we were short of a majority in 2006, we formed a government with their support, because political parties in Tamil Nadu know the challenges of a coalition government,” Elangovan said.
AIADMK spokesperson and former Minister Vaigai Chelvan told ThePrint the people of the state itself would not be in favour of the idea.
“Whether you declare before the election or not, just by seat-sharing numbers, people will find out what’s there in the cards. Past elections have proved that people don’t trust an alliance that pitches for a coalition government,” Vaigai Chelvan told ThePrint.
Speaking to ThePrint, the BJP’s former state president Tamilisai Soundararajan also said it would be an alliance government post 2006 elections. “We stress that the election will be fought by the NDA alliance and that alliance will form a government. It is being twisted with ill intentions,” she told ThePrint.
Political commentator Raveendran Duraisamy said the people of Tamil Nadu have always voted to ensure a single party rules the state. “Even if a third and fourth front divide the DMK and AIADMK votes, the collective conscience of people works in a way that one party gets the majority to form the government,” he said.
Power-sharing demands across alliances in Tamil Nadu
The demand for a share in power first came from DMK ally Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi in July 2025. Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) leader Thol. Thirumavalavan publicly argues that alliance politics must move beyond seat-sharing to “representation in governance”, stating that parties representing marginalised communities cannot remain limited to electoral support roles alone.
The statement marks the first open articulation of power-sharing demands within the DMK-led front in the run-up to 2026. However, he also clarified that it would not be a pre-condition for an alliance and that power-sharing was possible only when the two Dravidian majors depend on allies for forming a government.
In April 2025, after the BJP and AIADMK renewed ties, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had repeatedly asserted that the BJP would be part of an NDA government in Tamil Nadu after the 2026 Assembly elections. The statements triggered immediate pushback from the AIADMK leadership, which firmly rejected the idea of coalition governance in the state.
In June 2025, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS) publicly ruled out any power-sharing arrangement, asserting that Tamil Nadu’s political culture does not permit coalition governments and reaffirming the party’s commitment to single-party rule.
The recent demand for a share in power came from the Congress in December 2025. Within the DMK-led INDIA bloc, Congress leaders started informally expressing dissatisfaction over their limited political space in Tamil Nadu despite long-standing alliance loyalty.
Congress MP Manickam Tagore and other senior state leaders openly called for a “meaningful role in governance”, arguing that alliance partners must receive political recognition beyond seat allocation. The DMK has maintained public silence on the issue.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
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