"Unacceptable": Congress On DMK's 'Will Never Trust' Jab On Vijay Tie-up

The rift between the Congress and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam opened just that little bit deeper Sunday night after Manickam Tagore pushed back against Udhayanidhi Stalin's searing criticism. "The Congress stood with the DMK in difficult times… we waited outside when they had a minority," Tagore told news agency ANI. "Udhayanidhi's words are unacceptable."

Tagore claimed the Congress' decision to break from the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance and form a coalition with superstar actor Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam - which was the single-largest party in last month's election - was meant to stop the BJP from getting a foothold in the southern state, in which the saffron party has historically struggled for relevance.

"Congress always stood with the secular alliance (but) Bharatiya Janata Party was making the connecting call for DMK and AIADMK… which is against our principle. Any understanding with the BJP will not be tolerated by the Congress."

#WATCH | Sivakasi, Tamil Nadu: On Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly LoP & DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin's statement, Congress MP Manickam Tagore says, “Congress had stood with DMK in difficult times…we had waited outside when they had a minority…his words are unacceptable.… pic.twitter.com/U3fLiGLS9w

— ANI (@ANI) May 25, 2026

Tagore was referring to whispers about an unprecedented tie-up between the state's two Dravidian giants - parties born of the same ideology but ferociously opposed to each other, and which have dominated Tamil politics.

He also blamed the Congress for the BJP's rise across India.

Tagore's pushback followed the younger Stalin's declaration that the DMK will "never trust the Congress again" and that the national party's leaders lacked "basic gratitude and decency".

RECAP | "Never Allow Them Near Us": DMK Rips Into Congress Over Support To Vijay

"DMK cadre was the reason for Congress winning five seats. People voted for them because they wanted MK Stalin as the chief minister. But today, for some positions, they ran away without informing us. We should never allow them (the Congress) near us," Stalin thundered.

The increasingly bitter squabble marks the end of a profitable political and electoral relationship for both sides. The DMK-Congress alliance, with the latter as a silent partner, won three consecutive major elections - the 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha polls and the 2021 Assembly election.

A fourth seemed a given till actor Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam upset the 62-year-old Dravidian applecart. The TVK won 108 of the state's 234 seats but needed 10 more to take 'thalapathy' to a stunning debut win.

Much to the DMK's dismay, the Congress offered its five seats to the TVK's cause. It emerged then that Tagore and some of his colleagues had pushed the Congress to ally with Vijay's party even before the election, recognising a wave of support for the actor and against the Dravidian giants.

And, after 72 hours of political drama, the Left, the Indian Union Muslim League, and the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi - each of whom were also DMK allies - offered eight more seats.

RECAP | TVK's Win In Tamil Nadu Sparks Major Alliance Realignment Across Parties

The DMK, then, went from a strong second - with 73 seats from its seven-party alliance - to 60, only seven ahead of that led by its great rival, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.

Vijay's TVK - after more drama involving Governor RV Arlekar - was finally sworn in and cleared its floor test with 144 votes of confidence. This was after a separate rift in the AIADMK added 25 to its camp.

The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, having slipped to four defeats since J Jayalalithaa's death in 2016, had begun questioning leader Edappadi K Palaniswami, with a faction led by CV Shanmugam and others trying for a reset.

With input from agencies