INDIA Bloc Rejig: Vijay's TVK Likely To Participate In National Consultative Meeting Of Opposition; No Invitation To DMK

Chennai: With the Congress severing its ties with the DMK, the INDIA Bloc has invited Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay's Tamizhaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), signalling a metamorphosis of the national opposition coalition.

Sources said the invitation has been accepted by the TVK.

The invitation follows the performance of the fledgling party in the recently concluded Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections where the actor-turned politician's party emerged as the single largest party. The party finished with 108 seats in the 234-member House leaving the DMK and the AIADMK with 59 and 47 seats, in its electoral debut. This led to the formation of a TVK-led government with the support of the Congress, the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, the Communist Party of India, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), and the Indian Union Muslim League.

The Congress, which contested the elections in alliance with the DMK and won 5 seats, was the first party to extend its support to the Vijay-led TVK regime and was rewarded with two cabinet berths in the government.

The Congress has convened a consultative meeting of the INDIA bloc in Delhi on June 8. It is learnt that neither the DMK nor the Trinamool Congress received an invitation.

Sources from the TVK revealed that the party's president might not be attending the meeting but will be nominating someone else from his party to attend the meeting. One of the sources said General Secretary (Election Campaign Management), Aadhav Arjuna, who is also the Minister for Public Works Department will be tasked to represent the party in the INDIA bloc meeting.

The Congress which leads the INDIA bloc was part of the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance(SPA) in the state here. The grand-old-party contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, local body elections and also the 2021 Assembly Elections in alliance with the DMK.

The Congress' ditching the DMK created furore within the regional party's ecosystem. Leaders from both the parties engaged in verbal attacks, ridiculing each other and of betraying the people's trust for the alliance. Congress leaders reminded the DMK how they partook in power in the BJP-led government.

The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) was formed in 2023 stitching up a multi-party coalition against the ruling BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The Bloc comprising the DMK, CPI, CPI(M), VCK, IUML, Shiv Sena(UBT), NCP(SP), and the Trinamool Congress, among others, fared well in the 2024 Parliamentary Lok Sabha elections. The performance by this combine restricted the BJP's ability to come to power on its own, forcing the saffron party to rely on its alliance partners to form the government. BJP won 240 seats and Congress 99 in the 543-member House. Congress managed to secure the Leader of Opposition post after 10 years, as it did not win the required 55 seats in the previous two terms.

The constituent parties of the INDIA bloc fought each other in the subsequent state Assembly Elections. In the West Bengal Assembly Elections, the Congress fielded candidates against the Trinamool Congress. In Kerala, the Congress unseated the Left Front from power and had expanded its footprint in the South with its second government after Karnataka.

The INDIA bloc appears to be going strong in Uttar Pradesh which is going to the Assembly Elections early next year. Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav has reaffirmed his faith in the bloc saying that the alliance with its partners would continue in future elections. His assertion came after Congress ditched the DMK. He also cautioned that the formula for seat sharing will be "victory not seats". He added that his party has vast experience in running alliances and always ensured that its allies benefited from the arrangement.

Rahul Gandhi paid tribute to former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on his birth anniversary. In a post on X, Rahul, who is the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, said, "‘Kalaignar’ M. Karunanidhi spent his life fighting for the dignity of the Tamil people, for social justice, and for the rights of the marginalised. Not just a Chief Minister - he was a writer, a poet, a thinker. He believed in a Constitution that treats every Indian as equal. My humble tributes on his birth anniversary."

Former West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee also paid tributes to Karunanidhi, who was known as 'Kalaignar'. In a post on X, Banerjee said, "Tribute to ‘Kalaignar’ M Karunanidhi Ji, former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, on his birth anniversary. He was a poet, author, statesman, and great leader, loved by all. After he passed in 2018, we had sent our senior MP to his memorial meeting in Tamil Nadu."

DMK chief MK Stalin also remembered his late father. In a post on X, Stalin, a former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, said, "The Leader's Birthday! The Birthday of the Tamil Leader!! Even after becoming bedridden in a wheelchair, without resting, until your final breath, you toiled tirelessly for the Tamil people - for the upliftment of the people of Tamil Nadu, O Noble Leader!"

"The leader who forever guides me, Kalaignar himself… Without carrying victory on your head or defeat in your heart, you crossed the oceans of trials without fatigue—the strength you possessed is in me too. When you were full of it, I sought your strength. With that strength, we achieved successive victories and led Tamil Nadu on a path of progress that history will celebrate. Now, we have lost the chance for victory. Yet your strength is not just with me, but with every comrade you inspired and nurtured. We declare with resolve… We will write the saga of victory once more! With the light of the rising sun, we will drive away the darkness enveloping Tamil Nadu!" added Stalin.

Read More

1. Congress Plays Down DMK's Attacks As Vijay Govt Gets Down To Work In TN
2. Tamil Nadu: Vijay-led TVK Expands Cabinet, 23 New Ministers Inducted; Congress Returns To Ministry After Decades
3. Vijay Appropriates Jayalalithaa's Legacy Caring For Lankan Tamils And More