Tamil Nadu Congress struggles to remain equal ally of DMK

'Headless chickens'

Despite the bonhomie, the TN unit of the Congress is struggling to remain on an equal footing with the DMK. The local unit is plagued by intra-party squabbles, which is not only affecting the party candidates in this election but also driving home the 'headless chickens' allegation made by the BJP against the state Congress unit. Meanwhile, the BJP’s strategy, of course, revolves around Modi.

The Congress is contesting from nine constituencies in Tamil Nadu –Tiruvallur, Krishnagiri, Karur, Cuddalore, Mayiladuthurai, Sivagangai, Virudhunagar, Tirunelveli, Kanniyakumari – and one constituency in Puducherry as part of its alliance with DMK.

The party has fielded five of its sitting MPs from the state, including Karti Chidambaram from Sivaganga, S Jothimani from Karur, Vijay Vasanth from Kanniyakumari, Manickam Tagore from Virudhunagar, and V Vaithilingam from Puducherry. Others include former IAS officer Sasikanth Senthil in Tiruvallur constituency, MK Vishnuprasad from Cuddalore, R Sudha from Mayiladuthurai, Robert Bruce from Tirunelveli, and K Gopinath from Krishnagiri.

In the 2019 LS polls, DMK had emerged victorious in 23 seats and secured a 33 per cent vote share. In the case of Congress, it won in eight out of nine seats it contested and secured a 12 per cent vote share.

Congress candidates in trouble

However, it is becoming clear that this election is not going to be a cakewalk for the party. There have been instances of Congress candidates being questioned by voters and forced to leave the campaign spot.

For example, videos of Congress candidate Jothimani in the Karur constituency leaving the campaign after a group of men stopped her car in Dindigul went viral. Karur is the constituency with the highest number of contestants this time – there are 54 contestants in the fray this time – a factor that will affect the vote share of the winning candidate.

The resolution passed by the Sivaganga unit of the Congress party against Karti Chidambaram being fielded for the second time has also muddied the waters in this constituency.

Moreover, his father, the senior Congress leader P Chidambaram's decision not to contest this time, along with several senior Congress leaders in northern India, is being interpreted as a prevailing defeatist mood in the party. In the case of the Tirunelveli constituency, Robert Bruce was announced as a candidate after several rounds of persuasion among party members, and he still struggles to gain support from his own party members in some areas.

Earlier this week, a video clip showing money being distributed during the election campaign of Manickam Tagore, the Congress candidate for the Virudhunagar constituency, became fodder for the BJP to attack them. The BJP has fielded popular actor Radhika Sarathkumar from this constituency.

Not a burden

Political analysts pointed out that the Congress party has to be very serious about protecting its vote share and winning all the seats to reassure its alliance leader DMK that the party is not a burden in the alliance.

While DMK focuses on federalism, and how the Union government has failed to provide funds to the state in its election campaigns, Congress candidates talk about the ₹1,000 financial assistance promised to women by the DMK government and issues like NEET and CAA.

BJP's campaign focuses on portraying Modi as the only leader for Tamil Nadu after the demise of J Jayalalithaa and K Karunanidhi, suggesting that the state will prosper if voters opt for BJP, as the party is all set to make a clean sweep in other parts of the country.

Need for reinvention

Congress, meanwhile, has to contend with a weak party organisation and its inability to mobilise youth, which has severely affected its fortunes for several years now.

Recently, Karti Chidambaram openly mentioned his party's failure to modernise and applauded Prime Minister Modi's campaigning style and his social media tactics, which appeal to young voters. Karti’s remarks underscores the urgent need for the Congress party to reinvent itself.

To a question about the intra-party squabbles and Congress candidates being shunned by the voters during election campaigns, Congress spokesperson Anand Srinivasan told The Federal that his party is very positive about winning all the 40 seats, as the DMK-Congress combine is seen as the only option for voters in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, who always choose secularism and reject the Hindutva ideology.

Conspiracy, says Jothimani

Jothimani told The Federal that some of her opponents had orchestrated a negative campaign in a few spots, where the same group of men appeared.

According to Jothimani, wherever she goes, "voters are overwhelmed". "They are very satisfied with my performance and have congratulated me for my second innings," she said.

Further, she said that she saw the same group of men following her campaign van and attempting to disrupt her meetings in two places.

"We have filed complaints against them for their distasteful behaviour. I am very hopeful about my victory because I have worked for the people, and they know me not just as an MP but also as a humble Congress worker, who stands by them in difficult times," said Jothimani with confidence.