The Hindu reports: Terming his party's decision to ally with the TVK in Tamil Nadu "dreadful", veteran Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar on Friday (May 8, 2026) said it smacked of "low political opportunism" and asserted that if the move facilitates the backdoor entry of a "communal BJP" into the Dravidian state then it would prove to be the worst own goal in the history of political football.Mr. Aiyar said he cannot imagine the fathers of the Indian National Congress blessing such "politics of expediency".Speaking with PTI, Mr. Aiyar said the Congress' decision to jump ship immediately after an election fought with the DMK to plunge into a relationship with the very TVK that took "us on in the 23 assembly segments we lost and the five we won only days ago", was "dreadful".Tamil Nadu government formation LIVE"This is an unforgivable violation of Mahatma Gandhi's 1925 maxim, 'Swaraj should be a government based on morality'," Mr.
Aiyar told PTI.In an article published in the Hindu Tamil on Friday (May 8, 2026), the veteran Congress leader asked whether Chankya has prevailed or Mahatma Gandhi in the Congress switching partners in Tamil Nadu."The Congress won five seats, not because of itself but entirely on the strength of its decades-old junior partnership with the DMK. Indeed, my former parliamentary constituency of Mayiladuturai proved to be such a stronghold of the DMK-led alliance, that five out of its six Assembly segments voted against Vijay's TVK in favour of a galaxy of the members of the alliance with two seats going to the DMK and one each to alliance partners DMDK, IUML and the Congress," Mr.
Background
Aiyar said in his Tamil piece.Thus, the mandate ran clearly in favour of the DMK-led alliance and against the newcomer, he pointed out."It is in the context of my association with this maverick parliamentary constituency over the past 35 years that I write this piece with immense regret and sorrow," Mr. Aiyar said.While noting that the state-wide mandate was against the older Dravidian parties and in favour of C Joseph Vijay's TVK and that Mr. Vijay is totally secular and belongs to the broader Dravidian consensus, Mr.
Key facts
- Aiyar said he cannot imagine the fathers of the Indian National Congress blessing such "politics of expediency".Speaking with PTI, Mr.
- Aiyar said.While noting that the state-wide mandate was against the older Dravidian parties and in favour of C Joseph Vijay's TVK and that Mr.
- Vijay is totally secular and belongs to the broader Dravidian consensus, Mr.
What this means
Aiyar said yet, to summarily ditch an old and tried partner "smacks of low political opportunism"."But opportunism is the essence of Chanakyan politics. It was not the politics of truth of the Congress of Gandhi. I cannot imagine the fathers of the Indian National Congress blessing such a politics of expediency," he said.What is more, the ever-realistic Jawaharlal Nehru would also have doubted whether it makes political sense to abandon a tried and tested ally — an ally who has stayed with us through decades of turbulence — for a partner the Congress spurned till the 4th of May, he said.Is this ethical or is it even politically wise, Mr.
Aiyar asked."Struggling with these considerations, I must confess to deep unease with our switching horses after the race has been run. In switching, we have shown ourselves to be driven less by good behaviour, self-restraint and self-sacrifice, as taught by the Mahatma, and more in favour of immediate reward even if the future of such avaricious politics is uncertain," he said.How can the Congress justify letting down a partner who, alone in the INDIA bloc, proclaimed 'brother' Rahul Gandhi as Prime Minister, Mr. Aiyar argued."Moreover, why abandon a partner as he is drowning to reach the shore in company with the person responsible for the drowning.
Originally reported by The Hindu. This story has been edited and re-presented by BRIC Team.
