On Monday, when DMK President M.K. Stalin landed in Delhi to call on Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, he was mocked by a few BJP leaders in Tamil Nadu. Some went to the extent of saying that the regional leaders are meeting with the Congress leadership in Delhi, as they cannot meet after a defeat. But Stalin’s visit to Delhi seems to have paid him well on time. Congress’s victory in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh seems to have emboldened the DMK.
The Congress's return to power in the three states is all set to add momentum to the DMK-led alliance in Tamil Nadu. Stalin’s visit to Delhi to call on Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandi, and later his meetings with other regional party leaders like Chandra Babu Naidu, Mamata Banerjee and Sharad Pawar seems to work well. For a Dravidian major that has been out of power for over seven years, Congress’s come back is a morale booster.
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The DMK alliance in Tamil Nadu is likely to become bigger in the coming days. “The victory has given confidence to the Congress and its alliance partners. This will now reflect in the rest of the country, including Tamil Nadu, where we already have a strong alliance with the DMK. There is a possibility of more parties coming into the alliance,” says Su Thirunavukkarasar, Tamil Nadu Congress party president.
Currently, the Congress and the IUML are part of the DMK alliance, while the two Left parties, Vaiko’s MDMK and Thol Thirumavalavan’s VCK are likely to come into the alliance. Another possible aspirant is Dr S. Ramadoss-led PMK, which has been criticising both the BJP in the Centre and the ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu.
On the other side, the BJP’s debacle in the Hindi heartland has made the ruling AIADMK in the state rethink its working relationship with the saffron party. The AIADMK, under Chief Minister Edappaddi K. Palanisamy and his deputy O. Panneerselvam, wants to distance itself from the BJP. In fact, this was obvious when the AIADMK MPs, led by Deputy Speaker M. Thambidurai, a day after the election results on Wednesday, walked into Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s chamber, demanding the Centre to release funds to restore the delta, which was affected by Gaja cyclone.
![[FILE] Panneerselvam revealed that he joined hands with Palaniswamy at the behest of PM Modi | PTI](https://img.theweek.in/content/dam/week/news/india/images/2018/2/23/modi-chennai-ops-eps-pti.jpg "[FILE] Panneerselvam revealed that he joined hands with Palaniswamy at the behest of PM Modi | PTI")
[File] Chief Minister Edappaddi K. Palanisamy and his deputy O. Panneerselvam with Prime Minister Narendra Modi | PTI
The AIADMK, which, after Jayalalithaa's death, was enjoying being in the warmth of the BJP, now wants to rethink its closeness with the BJP. Sources say an internal survey by the AIADMK recently revealed that they can win only six of 37 MP seats in Tamil Nadu and this will get reduced to four if it aligns with the BJP.
Also, the preffered anti-BJP mood in Tamil Nadu has also become a cause of concern for the AIADMK. According to sources, in a closed meeting with his close confidantes on Tuesday, Palanisamy told his party colleagues that “we have lessons to be learnt from the results". Sources say the AIADMK wants to stay away from the BJP, while it might think of post-poll alliance if required. “We are not part of any alliance. We will decide it at the time of election,” said Law minister C.Ve Shanmugam.
Meanwhile, the talks for a truce between the ruling AIADMK and the TTV faction has all of a sudden started cropping up. A day before the election results, TTV’s AMMK and the AIADMK began talking about a merger.
