B. Manickam Tagore | Photo credit: FILE PHOTO
The strain in the DMK-Congress relationship deepened on Sunday, with Congress leaders intensifying their attack on the ruling party.
At a meeting of the Madurai District Congress Committee, B. Manickam Tagore, who won a close election from the Virudhunagar Lok Sabha constituency in 2024, said the Congress must “take the blame and answer for your (DMK) mistakes”. He was indirectly referring to the corruption allegations against the DMK that led to the decimation of the United Progressive Alliance in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Mr. Tagore criticized the DMK for not taking action against its Madurai North MLA, G. Thalapathi, who challenged the Congress’ strength in Tamil Nadu. Mr. Tagore demands that the Madurai North constituency be allotted to the Congress this time. At the meeting, he received a resolution that sought a share of power and more seats in Congress.
Last week, DMK president and chief minister MK Stalin ruled out power sharing with allies.
“When the DMK district secretary (Mr. Thalapathi) derogatorily asks whether the Congress has enough workers to man the booths, it becomes a problem. We have borne the blame and are responsible for your mistakes,” Mr. Tagore said.
“Our leader Rahul Gandhi calls Chief Minister MK Stalin his ‘elder brother’. He expects the same respect to be given to ordinary Congress workers. His (Mr. Thalapathi’s) speech hurt us. No action was taken against him nor did he express remorse. So everyone started talking the same way. I will not be silent. If you don’t show us the same respect, he added.
To make matters worse, All India Professionals’ Congress president Praveen Chakravarthy, another critic of the DMK, questioned the “winnability” of the DMK-led alliance just because the government credited ₹5,000 to the bank accounts of 1.31 crore women.
He said, “Magalir Urimai Thittam is an excellent welfare scheme. Its implementation is commendable. But it would be superstitious to believe that it alone will ensure electoral victory. In the last three years, out of the nine major state governments that have announced such plans, only four have won and five have lost.”
Reacting to the development, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee President K. Selvaperunthagai said the AICC leadership had made it clear to the state leaders that no one should make comments against the DMK or the alliance in Tamil Nadu. “Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and KC Venugopal have made it clear to everyone. If such comments are made despite warnings, we will have to see what action the AICC will take against them,” he said.
A member of the Congress seat-sharing committee, who said he was not aware of Mr. Tagore’s remarks, pointed out that as long as Mr. Tagore did not speak out against an alliance with the DMK, there should be no problem.
Another senior leader said that the district congress committee has no power to pass any resolution on the alliance. “Are they more powerful than the AICC?” he asked.
Published – 15 Feb 2026 22:28 IST