The DMK has been holding the Tamil Nadu fort against the saffron assault on its own, but has been graciously accommodating its allies, especially those at the national level
The single most important factor that stops the I.N.D.I.A. bloc of Opposition political parties from evolving into an effective platform that can take on the government is the refusal of the Indian National Congress to recognise its strengths and weaknesses and act accordingly, especially when it deals with its regional allies. The latest instance is the grand old party’s attempts to bully the DMK in Tamil Nadu into apportioning a number of seats for the forthcoming Assembly elections that is grossly disproportional to its electoral strength in the state.
The DMK has been holding the Tamil Nadu fort against the saffron assault on its own, but has been graciously accommodating its allies, especially those at the national level. The Congress, the Left parties and the Indian Union Muslim league are the beneficiaries of this policy. The Congress fought an election on its own last in 2014 Lok Sabha election when it managed to get 4.73 per cent of the popular vote, winning none of the 39 seats it had contested. Fast forward to 2024, the party, as a member of the Secular Progressive Alliance led by the DMK, won all the nine seats it contested and polled 10.67 per cent votes in an election which the alliance swept. In the 2021 Assembly election, the party won 18 of the 25 seats it was allotted.
The DMK had singlehandedly managed to get a majority in the 2021 Assembly seats and repeated the winning spree in the local body elections, byelections and Lok Sabha elections that followed. Additionally, the party has a new ally in the DMDK, founded by the late actor Vijayakanth, and once a formidable player in state politics. It is in this background that the Congress has been giving contradictory signals from all the vantage points that it is unhappy with the DMK and has kept its options to forge an alliance with Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam of actor Vijay. The party’s national leaders from the state have been acting cozily with the actor- politician, in an effort to send a signal to the DMK, which, however, refuses to acknowledge it.
The Congress acts as if it has too many options though it has very little in Tamil Nadu. The DMK has been its steadfast ally for over a decade on the national stage and has been a major supporter of Rahul Gandhi as the leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha. The DMK, which rules a state which sends 39 members to the Lower House of Parliament has been the pillar of strength of the INDIA bloc while Trinamul Congress leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee blows hot and cold.
How the Congress lost and went down with the entire Opposition in the Bihar Assembly election is for everyone to see; how it refused to even acknowledge the presence of its INDIA bloc allies in elections to Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh Assembly elections is also on record. How the party fails to design a cohesive Opposition strategy and execute it in Parliament where it has substantially higher numbers than last time is also evident.
Every party is ambitious about its future, and the Congress also. But it fails to be pragmatic and realistic to achieve its goals. Its ambitions get the better of its legitimacy to lead the Opposition coalition. Pressuring its allies into conceding demands that have no connect with realpolitik is not going to do the Congress good, not for its brand of politics either. It must play its politics with its feet on the ground. It must learn from the BJP, its arch-rival, on how it makes every ally feel important, and still gets its way.
