Tamil Nadu: Congress vs Congress erupts as Stalin refuses to blink | India News

NEW DELHI: The heated debate over power-sharing in Tamil Nadu has not only created a rift between the Congress and its ally, the DMK, but also exposed sharp internal rifts within the Congress, with the state leadership moving quickly to rein in dissenting voices as CM MK Stalin draws a firm red line of power.Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president K Selvaperunthagai publicly scolded party MP Manikom Thakur for raising the issue of power sharing with the ruling DMK at a district-level meeting in Madurai on Monday. Selvaperunthagai bluntly asked if anyone in the party considered themselves “bigger than the AICC leadership”.The warning came amid a renewed strain in Congress-DMK ties after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin dismissed demands for a partnership in governance as a “conspiracy”, even as the alliance said it remained intact.Selvaperunthagai said the AICC had already issued clear instructions that alliance matters should not be discussed publicly, news agency PTI reported. “Our leaders Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and KC Venugopal have clearly told us not to express views on the alliance in public. I strictly follow those instructions,” he said, adding that airing such views ahead of assembly elections only creates confusion.He was reacting to the February 15 meeting of the Madurai South District Congress Committee held at Tiruparkundram under Thakur’s leadership, which reportedly passed a resolution to share power with the DMK. While Selvaperunthagai said he was not aware of the resolutions, he underlined that the party has already formed a five-member committee under Girish Chodankar to discuss seat-sharing with the DMK and any talks must be within that framework.Meanwhile, Congress MP Karti Chidambaram also clarified in an interview to ANI that the party is committed to the Bharat Bloc and its alliance in Tamil Nadu led by the DMK.“We are in an India alliance. We have to look at it from a national perspective. DMK is a very important part of the India alliance nationally as they contribute a significant number of MPs to our bloc. And we are part of the India alliance in Tamil Nadu, which is led by the DMK. The chief minister has clearly confirmed the alliance, and there is no doubt about it,” he said.Chidambaram acknowledged that while there may be underlying tensions and expectations of a long-standing alliance, it would not be realistic to walk away from a stable formation.“The DMK is a well-oiled political machine. To somehow get and ditch minor issues, in my opinion, would not be realistic. There are voices within the Congress party who are offering other options. As an active political party, we will observe what is happening around us,” he said.Internal rebuke followed Tagore’s sharp public pushback against Stalin’s comments. After the chief minister accused the demand for power-sharing as a “problem created by a few” and a conspiracy to create a rift in the alliance, Tagore responded with a pointed one-line post on X: “How can it, in the spirit of friendship, seek a role (a part) in serving the people be called a conspiracy?” The post indicates that at least a section of the Congress is unwilling to back down despite the clear stand of the DMK leadership.Stalin, however, left little room for ambiguity. While reiterating that the Congress-DMK alliance was “harmonious” and free of confusion, he firmly ruled out power-sharing with allies. “It won’t work in Tamil Nadu; they know it too. Rahul Gandhi is not worried either,” he said, avoiding a direct clash with the Congress high command and asserting DMK supremacy.DMK has doubled down on that position. Senior party leader and state forest minister RS ​​Rajakanappan made it clear that the DMK was not driven by alliances. In an allusion to history, he asked whether former chief minister Kalaignar Karunanidhi ever shared power despite winning more than 100 seats, adding that a future DMK government under Stalin would only follow the “Dravidian model”.Messaging within Congress remains mixed. While Thakur and a few others argued that the question of whether Tamil Nadu should have a single-party or coalition government should be left to the people, the state leadership opted for caution. Selvaperunthagai maintained that there was “no chance” of a rift in the alliance and that all views would ultimately be discussed by the AICC leadership and the Chief Minister.