The Congress party appears to have put to rest all speculations with regard to aligning with actor-turned-politician Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) party for next year’s Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections.
Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge has set up a 5-member committee to start seat-sharing talks with INDIA alliance partner, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) led by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, for the 2026 Assembly Elections. This was announced by Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K Selvaperunthagai on Saturday.
It was informed that the talks from the Congress side will be led by party in-charge for Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, Girish Chodankar. Selvaperunthagai and legislative party leader S Rajeshkumar will also be part of the committee tasked with holding talks with the ruling DMK.
The other members on the panel include Suraj Hegde and Nivedith Alva.
Reports said the Congress was set to officially inform the DMK about the constitution of the committee. The communication would be sent to DMK president and TN CM Stalin.
Congress sources had earlier stated that the DMK had asked the national party for clarity on the 2026 Tamil Nadu election in order to put to rest speculations swirling around the fate of INDIA bloc in Tamil Nadu.
The DMK was reportedly worried that since elections were just a few months away and there were murmurs of a Congress-TVK alliance, the INDIA bloc could destabilise in the absence of clarity. The Congress party’s move to set up the committee and start talks with the DMK on seat sharing would help stabilise the alliance in the southern state, especially after the Bihar rout for the opposition, said sources.