Post Assembly polls, Rahul Gandhi drives changes in Congress’ alliance arithmetic

Party is using the post-poll scenario in States to recalibrate its approach towards allies, evident in the way it has dealt differently with TMC in West Bengal and DMK in Tamil Nadu.

New Delhi: The Congress is using the post-poll scenario in States to recalibrate its approach towards allies and it is evident in the way it has dealt differently with the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu.

Party’s mascot Rahul Gandhi is driving the changes using the electoral outcomes to put the Congress in the driver’s seat with his eloquent support for Mamata Banerjee on "vote theft" and silence on M K Stalin in Tamil Nadu while nudging the party to go the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) way, which he could not push before the polls.

In West Bengal, Rahul has kept aside the campaign acrimony — only days before, he had accused Mamata of playing to the tunes of the BJP — behind and rushed to Mamata’s defence following the poll loss and endorsed her "vote theft" charges. He even went to the extent of warning his partymen against “gloating” over the Trinamool Congress’ loss while arguing stealing of mandate.

The Congress had in Bengal dumped the Left Front with which it has been contesting elections for the past few years, as part of efforts to reinvigorate the party in the State which it ruled last 49 years ago. It contested 294 seats and bagged 2.97% votes, winning two seats as against 3.03% in 2021 when it fought 92 seats with the Left Front but won none.

Rahul had called Mamata — he did telephone Stalin too — after the loss but it was followed up by another call to Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, as allegations of electoral manipulation were raised.

However, in Tamil Nadu, it appears that a script he wanted to follow before elections is being enacted post poll, owing to seniors, including party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, practically vetoing a proposal to come out of the DMK-led alliance. Congress Tamil Nadu in charge Girish Chodankar on Wednesday said if there was a tie up with the TVK, they could have won 180-190 seats.

Indications came as early as in March when Rahul shared a cold birthday wish for Stalin on X and later ratcheted up with his refusal to have a joint campaign with the DMK supremo. Congress complaints have been accumulating for years, as it believed that the DMK was not restricting its expansion and importantly not sharing power.

The electoral outcome in Tamil Nadu helped Rahul push his line and swiftly shed the DMK baggage and jump on the Vijay bandwagon overnight. 

However, the Congress took extra care not to ruffle the DMK’s feathers much by entrusting its Tamil Nadu unit to “take a call” on a tie-up with the TVK and announce it through a deftly-crafted statement that made clear the contours of the relationship in unambiguous terms. It wants its share in local bodies, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha too while keeping “communal” elements away.

A senior party leader used a Gen-Z coinage to explain the developments   — “relationship (with DMK) has now changed to situationship” — and said the party has left open avenues for cooperation at the national level, especially in Parliament like it does with other parties.

Leaders in Tamil Nadu are also careful not to target the DMK while insisting that changing priorities and public mood define political relations and subtly recalling past instances of the DMK moving away from the Congress.