Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday accused the Indian National Congress of betraying its old ally the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) after relying on the regional party for decades, while addressing a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) event in Bengaluru.
Describing the Congress as a party “driven” by political survival, shifting alliances and internal power struggles, Modi said the alliance with the DMK has time and again helped the Congress during politically difficult periods and played a key role in keeping Congress-led governments at the Center before 2014.
He alleged that the Congress later distanced itself from the DMK once political circumstances changed.
“Just look at the situation in Tamil Nadu now. For 25 to 30 years, the Congress has had a close relationship with the DMK. Time and again, the alliance with the DMK has succeeded in pulling the Congress out of crises,” Modi said during the event. “The DMK which had consistently worked for the betterment of Congress was betrayed the moment the political winds turned,” he said.
“Driven by the lust for power, the power-hungry Congress stabbed the KDP in the back at the first opportunity. Now the Congress needs another party, one that it can depend on its back, to remain politically relevant,” Modi added.
The remarks came as Narendra Modi congratulated Tamil Nadu Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) chief C Joseph Vijay after he was sworn in as chief minister of Tamil Nadu. He said that the Union government would continue to cooperate with the state government in development and social welfare initiatives.
Modi also accused the Congress government in Karnataka of spending most of its tenure managing internal conflicts rather than governing.
Addressing BJP workers in Bengaluru, he referred to the ongoing tensions between Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar over leadership and power-sharing arrangements, which have been the subject of political speculation for months.
“For the last three years in Karnataka, instead of solving people’s problems, most of the government’s time here has been spent resolving internal conflicts. The Congress government has remained plagued by uncertainty over leadership and power-sharing arrangements,” Modi said.
“They cannot decide how long the prime minister will stay. They cannot decide whether someone else will get a chance or not. Everything has been up in the air,” he added.
Modi claimed that Congress governments faced opposition to incumbents within months because the party lacked a governance agenda and focused primarily on retaining power. He said: “This is because Congress only knows how to betray people. They themselves are liars, and their guarantees are also false. There is no chapter on governance in the book of powers of Congress.”
In a comparison between the Congress and the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, Modi described the National Democratic Alliance as a stable political force at a time of global uncertainty. He cited the recent election results as evidence of growing popular support for the coalition management model.
The Prime Minister noted that the NDA returned to power in Puducherry for a second consecutive term, retained its position in Assam, improved performance of the BJP in West Bengal, and achieved victories in local body elections in Gujarat.
“These election results are important for determining the direction of Indian politics. They reflect the mood of India’s youth, women, farmers, poor and middle class,” Modi said. “The people of India say they want speed, not fraud; they want solutions. They want a policy based on national policy,” he added.
