The DMK has publicly rejected the mediation drive by its former ally VCK to bring Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay’s TVK together under the umbrella of the India Bloc at the national level. This comes at a time when the DMK continues to walk a tightrope – criticizing the Congress leader for his “backstabbing” in the state, while also being part of the opposition unit against the BJP at the Centre.
Senior DMK leaders reportedly told the VCK, which left the DMK-led alliance to go with Vijay in May like the Congress, to first get Vijay’s endorsement for the idea of unity at the national level.
“I don’t think the DMK leadership will accept the VCK’s proposal,” DMK MP Ganapathy P Rajkumar told NDTV, referring to VCK chief Thol Thirumavavalavan’s suggestion that TVK and the main opposition DMK remain rivals at the state level while remaining united at the national level against the BJP. Banerjee and Congress in West Bengal.
DMK leaders once again put the onus on the VCK, first defeating actor-turned-politician Vijay who has repeatedly described the DMK as its main political rival while listing the BJP as the main ideological enemy.
“He calls the DMK his political enemy. How can we be there?” Elangovan said. DMK’s Rajkumar also questioned whether a party that does not have any MPs in the India Bloc at all should be considered for membership, though he maintained that the BJP remains the DMK’s main ideological opponent as well.
The rejection now comes amid an acrimonious war of words between the DMK and the Vijay government over Vijay’s first visit to Karur since the stampede last September during his rally that left 41 people dead. Vijay, who announced a memorial and compensation for the victims on Thursday, blamed the police, then under the DMK government headed by MK Stalin, for failing to alert him to the growing crowd.
The DMK responded with accusations of “false propaganda” and “overacting”.
VCK broker balancing process
However, VCK chief Thirumavavalavan’s push comes after weeks of him trying to walk a fine line – supporting the TVK government while insisting that the VCK alliance also remains with the DMK.
“Both parties must be part of the All India bloc to defeat the BJP,” news agency PTI reported. He told reporters in Ariyalur on July 9. He said that this unity is a “national necessity” and not a necessity specific to Tamil Nadu.
Congress MP Jothimani supported the proposal in comments to NDTV, saying opposition unity must overcome state-level friction. “It is about India and its future. We are going through difficult times,” she said, adding that the DMK’s India Bloc position could be reconsidered once TVK secures its own parliamentary representation.
The mediation attempt was not welcomed uniformly even within the TVK camp itself. MDMK chief Vaiko, speaking to reporters, mocked Thirumavalavan’s dual alliance stance and called him deserving of a “Nobel Prize”. But he later said that he meant no offense.
Stalin and Vijay are calm so far.
How did the rift start?
The current split within the India Caucus or the opposition in general dates back to May, when the Congress ended its nine-year alliance with the DMK to support Vijay’s TVK government after the Assembly elections left Vijay without a majority.
“The India bloc is over. We will remake the alliance,” the DMK’s Elangovan declared at the time. The party then wrote to the Speaker of the Lok Sabha seeking to restore the seats of its MPs away from Congress seats in Parliament.
The VCK, IUML, CPI and CPI(M) – all former allies of the DMK – extended their support to the TVK government instead, citing secularism and the need to avoid president’s rule. Leader of the Opposition (Lok Sabha) Rahul Gandhi of Congress attended Vijay’s swearing-in ceremony.
The DMK then went on to skip the India Bloc meeting on June 8 in Delhi, citing the sentiments of its cadre.
Meanwhile, Vijay reciprocated Congress’ support in concrete terms. In June, TVK gave the only RSP seat in Tamil Nadu going to the polls at that time to Congress’ Praveen Chakravarty, the party’s data wing chief who had backed the alliance with Vijay even before the elections.
Chakravarty, thanking both Rahul Gandhi and Vijay, described himself as the first MP of what he called the “Tamil Nadu Progressive Alliance for Social Justice”, comprising TVK, Congress, VCK, IUML, CPI and CPI(M).
The DMK’s break is not absolute
However, the DMK’s break from the bloc was not set in stone. The party was among 23 opposition parties or groups, along with the RJD and Independent MP Kapil Sibal, who signed a June 28 letter to Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, citing concerns over the conduct of the Election Commission and its own intensified review of electoral rolls.
The signing of both the DMK and AAP, even after skipping the meeting that preceded it, was seen as a big deal. Both parties have distanced themselves from the Congress-led bloc in recent months – the DMK over the TVK reorganization, and the AAP after exiting the alliance in 2025.
However, the Congress party moved to formalize the status of the TVK-led alliance within the nationalist opposition camp. On July 1, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president Manickam Tagore told ANI that MPs belonging to parties within the TVK-led alliance would be included in the India bloc, leaving the Vijay-led caucus to decide its name and coordination committee.
Numbers
The importance of TVK in the national bloc’s calculations remains quite possible. The party did not contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections because it was founded earlier that year.
Any traction for TVK in the coalition will only be achieved in the 2029 general election, although its support base remains an influential factor.
