Cracks In DMK-Congress Alliance? Palaniswami's Big Claim Ahead Of Tamil Nadu Polls

Last Updated:September 25, 2025, 17:03 IST

Edappadi K Palaniswami claims DMK Congress alliance is fracturing, citing power-sharing demands by Girish Chodankar and S Rajeshkumar.

Palaniswami said “cracks have appeared” in the ruling coalition and predicted that the DMK camp “is going to get deserted.”

Tamil Nadu Elections: AIADMK chief and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has claimed that the alliance between the ruling DMK and its key partner, the Congress, is on the verge of collapse.

While addressing an election rally in Udhagamandalam on Tuesday, the Tamil Nadu Leader of Opposition said that cracks have appeared in the ruling coalition with Congress leaders openly demanding a greater share of power, news agency PTI reported.

Pointing to recent remarks made at a Congress meeting in Tirunelveli, Palaniswami alleged that the party’s Tamil Nadu in-charge Girish Chodankar “clearly voiced the fifty-fifty demand."

According to Palaniswami, Chodankar has demanded a share in power and 117 Assembly seats to the Congress in the 2026 Assembly polls; 117 seats is 50 per cent of the total 234 seats in the Tamil Nadu Assembly.

“Hence, cracks have appeared in the alliance. The demand for a share in power has been voiced. The DMK camp is going to get deserted. For how long will they (DMK) themselves loot? The frustrated Congress has awakened and is seeking a share in power," the former Chief Minister said.

He also pointed to reported comments by the state Congress Legislature Party leader S Rajeshkumar, who purportedly argued that the DMK would struggle to retain power and insisted that any future government must be a coalition, the report added. Former TNCC chief KS Alagiri, too, had asked for a share in governance, he said.

In a veiled reference to his estranged colleague O Panneerselvam, who was expelled from the party in July 2022 after dramatic scenes at the AIADMK headquarters, Palaniswami said Stalin could take on any “avatar" but would not succeed in breaking the AIADMK, which he described as being powered by its cadre strength.

A recent disagreement between political allies was sparked when Senthil Balaji, a leader from the DMK party, brought S Kavitha, a former Congress leader, into his party. This occurred after Kavitha resigned from her position as the Karur City Congress Women’s President. Balaji posted a photo of her joining, but he later took it down after Congress’s objection.

The BJP, meanwhile, seized on the developments with Tamil Nadu BJP president Vinoj P Selvam calling the INDIA bloc in the state “unnatural" and claiming the DMK has never respected the Congress.

He accused the ruling party of “poaching" members from its own alliance partners and suggested that parties within the bloc were starting to pull away because they saw little chance of winning the next election.

(With inputs from agencies)

News politics Cracks In DMK-Congress Alliance? Palaniswami's Big Claim Ahead Of Tamil Nadu Polls

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