As it became clear that Vijay’s Tamil Nadu Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) was emerging as the top party in Tamil Nadu, a section of the Congress quietly muttered to each other: “I told you so.” The HT has confirmed with at least three key people in the Congress that they have seriously considered ditching their old allies, the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), and going with Vijay in the run-up to the Assembly elections.
This would explain why the two-decade-old alliance went through a very frosty phase during the elections. Notably, there were no joint rallies or appearances between Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and Congress Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi. Follow live updates on election results in seats contested by Vijay.
“It is true that TVK was in touch with us till the last minute and offered 75 seats,” said a Congress member who did not want to be named.
“This issue divided the party and in the end it was a collective decision to stay with the DMK.”
A second unnamed MP also said that Vijay’s line of communication was with Girish Chodankar, the party’s general secretary, rather than senior leaders like Rahul Gandhi or Mallikarjun Kharge. Another leader said a businessman was acting as an intermediary.
It is easy to see why a section of the party preferred to get rid of its older allies. While no one expected TVK to come first, internal Congress polls indicated that Vijay would get a significant chunk of the votes.
Ultimately, the high command preferred to stay with Stalin. “The logic was simple – we had to support Stalin’s ideology. If Rahul Gandhi was attacking the BJP at the Centre, then Stalin was adopting that ideology in the state.”
They felt that Vijay, with his apolitical worldview, which is to appeal to people who don’t have such baggage, did not align with their ideas. This turned out to be a huge miscalculation. They did not take into account how angry voters were at what many now call “the arrogance of current lawmakers.”
A third leader wisely said in retrospect: “I think if he fails to achieve a majority, we will continue to support him. But yes, we could have shared power with him.”
With the people of Tamil Nadu rejecting established Dravidian parties like the DMK and AIADMK, choosing instead to invest their hopes in the newcomer, the Congress will once again have to figure out why they misjudged the matter to such an extent.
