The Congress on Wednesday severed ties with its 55-year-old ally Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) to support actor-politician Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) to form the government in Tamil Nadu.
Have old allies separated in the past too?
What Congress said
The TVK, launched in 2024, performed impressively securing 108 seats out of 234 Assembly constituencies in the state, in its maiden electoral debut. However, the TVK falls short of the 118-seat majority mark . While the DMK won 59 seats, AIADMK 47, Congress 5 and PMK 4.
The Tamil Nadu Congress Committee and the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) have decided to extend its full support to the TVK to form the government, AICC Tamil Nadu incharge Girish Chodankar said in a statement citing TVK chief Vijay’s request seeking support.
He said: “Our support shall be conditional upon the TVK keeping out from this alliance any communal forces that do not believe in the Constitution of India.
This alliance between the TVK and the Tamil Nadu Congress will strive to bring back Perunthalaivar Kamaraj’s glory days of Tamil Nadu, with a strong commitment to Thanthai Periyar’s social justice ideals and Dr BR Ambedkar’s constitutional ideals in the years and decades to come.
This alliance – founded on mutual respect, appropriate share, and shared responsibility between the two parties is not only for the formation of this government, but also for future elections to the local body organisations, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha”.
Rahul Gandhi had called Vijay
After Vijay’s historic win, Congress’s Rahul Gandhi, in a post on X, said, “I spoke to Thiru Vijay and congratulated him on TVK’s spectacular result. My heartfelt thanks to the Congress workers of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry for their hard work and support. I reiterate that the Congress party will continue to protect and serve the people of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.”
I spoke to Thiru Vijay and congratulated him on TVK’s spectacular result.
This mandate reflects the rising voice of youth which cannot, and will not, be ignored.
My heartfelt thanks to the Congress workers of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry for their hard work and support.
I…
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 4, 2026
“This evening, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Shri @RahulGandhi spoke to Mamata Banerjee-ji and Thiru MK Stalin about the election results. He also congratulated the President of the TVK Thiru Vijay on the party’s performance,” said Congress’s Jairam Ramesh on X.
The alliances that crumbled in past
BJP and Shiv Sena (2014 & 2019): After a 25-year partnership, the alliance first broke in 2014 over seat-sharing for the Maharashtra Assembly elections. Although they reconciled, they split again in 2019, with the Shiv Sena eventually joining ideological rivals (Congress and NCP) to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi so Uddhav Thackeray could become Chief Minister.
BJP and Janata Dal (United) (2013, 2017, & 2022): Nitish Kumar repeatedly broke ties with the BJP. He first left the NDA in 2013 to protest Narendra Modi’s elevation as PM candidate, rejoined in 2017, and left again in 2022 to form a new government with the RJD in Bihar.
Congress and NCP (2014): The 15-year-old ruling alliance in Maharashtra collapsed just weeks before the 2014 polls due to disagreements over seat-sharing and the Chief Minister’s post, mirroring the BJP-Sena split happening at the same time.
Janata Party (1979): India’s first non-Congress coalition government splintered after only two years. Internal power struggles and ideological differences led Charan Singh to break away and become PM with outside support from his former rivals, the Congress party.
