Published Oct 13, 2026 | 12:25 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 13, 2026 | 12:25 PM
DMK and Congress
Synopsis: The party questioned whether the Congress national leadership endorsed Tagore’s position on SIR and challenged him to explain why Congress ally TVK, led by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay, had not joined the protest demanding Gyanesh Kumar’s removal.
The DMK headquarters has hit back at Congress MP Manickam Tagore over his criticism of the party’s position on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and its absence from the Delhi protest demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The DMK accused Tagore of undermining the opposition alliance before the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections and alleged that he was targeting the party while remaining silent on the TVK government’s position.
The war of words between the DMK and Congress MP Manickam Tagore escalated on Monday, October 12, with the DMK headquarters issuing a strongly worded statement warning him against continuing his attacks on the party.
The statement came after Tagore accused the DMK of blaming the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls for its electoral defeat, arguing that corruption, deterioration in law and order, controversial remarks about women and its treatment of alliance partners were the real reasons behind the party’s defeat.
Responding to his remarks, the DMK headquarters alleged that Tagore had previously weakened the anti-BJP alliance in Tamil Nadu through his statements and was now defending what it described as the Election Commission’s biased and unfair SIR exercise.
The party questioned whether the Congress national leadership endorsed Tagore’s position on SIR and challenged him to explain why Congress ally TVK, led by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay, had not joined the protest demanding Gyanesh Kumar’s removal.
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In his earlier statement, Tagore referred to DMK president and then Chief Minister MK Stalin’s speech at a training conference for the party’s booth-level teams in Madurai on February 21, 2026.
According to Tagore, Stalin had said that the DMK had worked extensively to ensure that voters’ names were not deleted during the SIR exercise. Stalin had also cited the party’s network of booth-level agents and election workers as crucial to its electoral preparations.
Tagore argued that the DMK was now contradicting its own earlier claims by attributing its defeat in the 2026 Assembly election and subsequent by-elections to voter deletions under SIR. He maintained that there had been no complaints about SIR in Tamil Nadu, Kerala or Puducherry, while alleging irregularities in West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Maharashtra and Haryana.
He further referred to a petition submitted to the President of India, arguing that its demand to cancel elections was limited to states where conclusive evidence of vote theft had been presented.
Rejecting Tagore’s argument, the DMK headquarters said its workers had made extensive efforts to help voters complete and submit the necessary forms during SIR. However, it claimed that several voters’ names were missing from both the draft and final electoral rolls.
The party accused Tagore of overlooking these omissions and said that the possibility of voter deletions affecting the election should not be dismissed.
The DMK headquarters acknowledged that SIR was not the only factor behind its electoral defeat. It also blamed remarks made by some Congress leaders, including Manickam Tagore, Girish Chodankar and Praveen Chakravarty, while the Congress was part of the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance.
The statement alleged that their repeated public criticism of the DMK damaged the alliance’s reputation and unity, undermining the work of Congress members who had campaigned for the coalition’s victory.
It accused the leaders of acting against the interests of the alliance while remaining within it and claimed that the DMK’s vote share had suffered as a result. The party further asserted that its public support had increased since the separation from Congress and cited the recent by-election results as evidence.
The DMK also accused these Congress leaders of betraying the alliance for political positions, claiming that their conduct had contributed to the breakdown of the relationship between the two parties.
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Tagore had also criticised the DMK for not sending any MPs to the Delhi protest demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. He pointed out that leaders from the Left parties, the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) had participated in the protest and been arrested.
He alleged that the DMK was reluctant to join the agitation because it feared antagonising the BJP.
The DMK headquarters rejected the allegation and said Stalin had been among the first leaders from Tamil Nadu to demand action against Gyanesh Kumar following an Indian Express report on alleged irregularities involving the Election Commission.
It also said that DMK MPs had signed a notice submitted by opposition parties in April seeking Gyanesh Kumar’s removal. The party added that Stalin had repeatedly raised the issue during by-election campaigning and publicly criticised the alleged excesses against protesters in Delhi.
The statement further referred to the detention of young people protesting against SIR in Tamil Nadu, claiming that DMK MPs had staged protests demanding their release when the state was under the TVK government.
Questioning Tagore’s criticism, the DMK asked what the Congress had done in response to those arrests and why he was not directing similar questions at Vijay.
The DMK headquarters said the party had left the INDIA bloc following what it described as a betrayal by sections of the Congress leadership. It argued that, having left the alliance, the DMK was under no obligation to participate in protests organised by the Congress or other INDIA bloc partners.
The statement said Congress leaders had no right to compel the DMK to join their demonstrations and declared that the party would follow an independent political path.
It also accused Tagore of failing to question Vijay over his silence on SIR, Gyanesh Kumar and the BJP, despite the Congress being in an alliance with the TVK government.
The DMK further alleged that the Tamil Nadu government had suppressed protests against SIR, while some Congress MPs had themselves raised questions about Vijay’s silence and the handling of demonstrations in the state.
The DMK headquarters defended its record of opposing the BJP, citing the party’s electoral victories in the previous two Lok Sabha elections and its role in building an opposition alliance in Tamil Nadu.
It also referred to Stalin’s protest against the proposed delimitation Bill, alleging that the DMK leader had opposed the BJP’s efforts even while campaigning for elections.
The statement criticised Vijay for not speaking publicly on SIR and Gyanesh Kumar, despite his political alliance with Congress, and accused Tagore of selectively targeting the DMK rather than questioning the TVK leadership.
Concluding the statement, the DMK headquarters issued a warning to Tagore, telling him to stop making remarks against a party that was no longer part of his alliance.
It said that if he continued making what it described as defamatory allegations against the DMK, he would have to face the consequences.
The exchange marks a further escalation in tensions between the DMK and Congress following their separation, with the dispute now centred on electoral roll revision, accountability for the 2026 election results and participation in the opposition campaign against the Election Commission.
(Edited by Sumavarsha, with inputs from Subash Chandra Bose)
