Congress set to gain extra Rajya Sabha seat from DMK, drops power-sharing push

The Congress is likely to secure an additional Rajya Sabha seat from the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance, even as it temporarily shelves its demand for formal power-sharing in the state cabinet.

AICC general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal met DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin at the latter’s Alwarpet residence on Sunday night, accompanied by Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K Selvaperunthagai and AICC in-charge Girish Chodankar.

Maintaining alliance cohesion

Sources said the high-level parleys, which included a sealed communication from Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, focused primarily on securing a Rajya Sabha nomination for party’s national spokesperson Pawan Khera. DMK sources indicated the request is “likely to be accommodated,” describing it as an acceptable gesture to keep the alliance intact.

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A Congress source familiar with the discussions told reporters that the party views the Rajya Sabha seat as broadly equivalent to the political weight of six Assembly constituencies, a formula it has cited while negotiating its share. The meeting comes as the Congress projects a modest increase in its Assembly contest tally.

The party contested 25 seats in the 2021 polls, winning 18, as part of the DMK-led front, and is now expected to be allotted 27–28 seats for the 2026 Assembly elections, according to multiple sources in both parties. Seat-sharing talks for the Assembly polls and the upcoming local body elections have been deferred to the next round of discussions.

Power-sharing put aside

Crucially, the Congress did not press its earlier demand for ministerial berths or formal power-sharing in the state government during the Sunday meeting. “Power-sharing is off the table for now,” a senior Congress functionary confirmed, adding that the party has instead emphasised broader representation in committees, cooperative bodies and grassroots governance structures. “Power sharing topic will be on table only after election results are out,” he said.

Congress sources also indicated that senior leader P Chidambaram is set to continue as a Rajya Sabha member with his term extending into 2028, further strengthening the party’s upper-house presence from Tamil Nadu.

Exploring tie-up with TVK

Meanwhile, simmering discontent within the Tamil Nadu Congress over the DMK’s reluctance to concede more seats or ministerial berths has triggered a parallel development: an attempt by sections of the Congress to explore a possible tie-up with actor-turned-politician Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK).

Several state-level Congress leaders have been quietly pitching the idea to the high command, arguing that an alliance with TVK could fetch the party 60-70 seats and position it as a stronger player against the DMK in northern and urban pockets. TVK cadres on Sunday passed a resolution urging Vijay to contest from the Perambur constituency, signalling the party’s aggressive push into DMK strongholds.

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While the Congress high command continues to reaffirm its commitment to the DMK-led INDIA bloc alliance, the TVK outreach is being viewed as both a bargaining chip and a potential Plan B if seat-sharing talks with the DMK remain deadlocked.

De-escalating tension in alliance

Political observers note that the Sunday meeting has helped de-escalate immediate tensions, but the Congress’s dual-track approach pressing for more within the alliance while keeping the TVK option open is likely to dominate back-channel negotiations in the coming weeks.

With the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly polls expected before May, the evolving triangular contest involving the DMK front, the AIADMK-BJP combine and Vijay’s TVK promises to reshape the state’s political landscape.