"We're waiting for DMK's response, don't know why there's a delay": Tamil Nadu AICC In-charge on Assembly polls
Jan 28, 2026
New Delhi [India], January 28 : Tamil Nadu All India Congress Committee (AICC) In-charge Girish Chodankar said on Wednesday that they are waiting for the DMK's response to form an alliance for the upcoming State Assembly elections, scheduled to be held later this year.
Speaking to ANI, Chodankar said that the Congress has been waiting for the DMK's response for the last two months.
"We are waiting for the DMK's response because alliance talks have not started yet. We have been waiting for them for the last two months... Our opposition is working very aggressively," he said.
Further, the AICC In-charge said that they had requested to complete the alliance formalities by December 15.
"We formed an alliance committee in November. We have requested that, by 15 December, the alliance talks be closed and the alliance sealed. I don't know why there is a delay... We are hopeful that they will conclude these alliance talks quickly," Girish Chodankar said.
Meanwhile, in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly, the DMK won 133 seats in the 2021 Assembly polls. Congress won 18, PMK won 5, VCK won 4 and others won 8.
The AIADMK won 66 seats in the elections.
The Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA), led by DMK, which consisted of Congres,s won 159 seats collectively while the NDA won 75 seats.
Earlier on Tuesday, Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Nainar Nagendran launched a sharp attack on the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and its ally Congress, describing their alliance as a "failed engine", as political campaigning intensifies ahead of the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.
Reacting to Chief Minister MK Stalin's recent remark in which he described the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) as a "box engine," Nainar Nagendran on Tuesday said that after the elections, people will clearly know which is the "failed engine," which is the "box engine," and which is the Vande Bharat engine.
Continuing his criticism, the BJP state president questioned the stability and cohesion of the DMK-Congress alliance, citing what he described as contradictory statements by Congress leaders.
"I hear that the DMK alliance itself is a failed engine. The Congress party keeps making contradictory statements. It is not clear whether Congress will remain in the DMK alliance or whether it will end up as a failed engine," he said, casting doubt on the future of the opposition alliance.
