‘Need at least DMK’s verbal assurance on share in power’

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The All India Congress Committee (AICC) is seeking at least a “verbal assurance” from its alliance leader, DMK, that the Congress will be accommodated in the next Tamil Nadu Cabinet, even as the ruling party is unwilling yet to announce the “power-sharing arrangement” before the Assembly election.

According to AICC sources in New Delhi, the Congress leadership feels that the DMK, which enjoyed the Congress’s “unconditional” support when it did not have the majority during 2006-2011, should return the favour in 2026 when the Congress is facing a political crisis across India.

“Congress leaders in New Delhi feel that when Prime Minister Narendra Modi could accommodate the allies despite winning a brute majority in 2014 and 2019 and when Chandrababu Naidu could accommodate his allies despite winning a thumping majority in Andhra Pradesh, why can’t the DMK be democratic enough to accommodate its allies in its Ministry,” said a Congress leader who is privy to the discussions on alliance.

“If the DMK really believes that the electorate will not vote for a coalition government if it is announced before the election, it can give Mr. [Rahul] Gandhi and Madam Sonia Gandhi a verbal assurance that it will share power after the election. The AICC in-charge Girish Chodankar has publicly spoken about having formally communicated the expectations of the Congress High Command,” the leader said.

The Congress’s high-level committee will meet in New Delhi next week to discuss the issue. According to sources in the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC), the Congress leaders in the State consistently going public about their opinion has resulted in a “strain in the relationship between the DMK and the Congress”.

The TNCC organised a protest in Chennai on Sunday against the Centre’s move to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

Congress Legislature Party leader S. Rajeshkumar said the law provided those aged 18 and above with 100 days of work. Its aim, he added, was to ensure that the poor did not seek alms. Hence, it was named after Mahatma Gandhi.