- 10 months ago
In this episode of Newstrack, the focus is on the soaring political temperatures in Tamil Nadu ahead of the 2026 assembly elections.
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00:00Hi there, you're watching NewsTrack with me, Maria Shaquille.
00:03Tamil Nadu is heating up as the state prepares for assembly polls,
00:08which will be held sometime in the month of April.
00:11Parties are busy solidifying their alliances with key figures
00:16like U.N. Minister Amit Shah leading the charge for the NDA.
00:20During his visit to the state, Amit Shah not only participated
00:23in fungal celebrations in Trichy, but also launched a sharp attack
00:27against Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and his DMK government,
00:31accusing them of prioritising family succession over public welfare.
00:36On the other hand, India bloc seems to be facing some early setbacks.
00:40Internal disputes are surfacing within the Congress party.
00:44Tensions have also arisen between the allies over the DMK's handling
00:48of state's financial situation.
00:51Not just that, Congress has also sparked a debate
00:54over a potential power-sharing model,
00:56saying that it should not be about seat-sharing alone,
00:59it should be also about power-sharing.
01:02Well, the key political players in Tamil Nadu
01:05are navigating a volatile landscape where shifting allegiances
01:09can determine the fate of the upcoming elections,
01:12making every political move a gamble
01:15in the fight for supremacy in the state.
01:17I'll be discussing that.
01:19The guests will be joining me shortly.
01:21But first up, here's what happened today.
01:26The stage is set for the Tamil Nadu Assembly polls.
01:34All major parties are gearing up with their alliances.
01:38Home Minister Amit Shah is on a two-day visit to the state,
01:41setting the political agenda for the NDA.
01:44Amit Shah joined Pongal celebrations in Trichy,
01:47but only after unleashing sharp attacks on the DMK government.
01:50The Home Minister accused Chief Minister Stalin
01:55prioritising family succession over public welfare,
01:59saying his sole objective is to make his son the Chief Minister.
02:20As per sources, at Tamil Nadu BJP's core committee meet,
02:24Home Minister Shah instructed local units to work
02:26for the larger good of the alliance
02:28to ensure that more parties join the NDA.
02:31But while the NDA has upped the ante,
02:34the India bloc appears to have had a shaky start.
02:37The Congress has accused the DMK
02:40of expanding Tamil Nadu's debt burden,
02:42raising questions over the relationship
02:45between Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and Rahul Gandhi.
02:47Adding to the tension, Congress MP Manikam Tagore
02:52has now spoken about a power-sharing model
02:54for the Tamil Nadu elections.
02:56We have been having negotiations with DMK for long years
03:00and there is a process into it.
03:03And this time there is a huge demand from the ground,
03:08from the Congress workers,
03:09that we should be having some power-sharing
03:13in the state government.
03:15The DMK, however, has rubbished Congress's sudden push
03:20for power-sharing,
03:22saying the Granul Party is reading the writing on the wall.
03:25Meanwhile, the Congress is also battling internal dissent.
03:30The power-sharing demand comes soon
03:31after Congress MP Jyoti Mani claimed
03:34that the Tamil Nadu Congress is going against
03:36Rahul Gandhi's line of policy-driven politics,
03:39exposing a widening rift within the party.
03:42But even as the Congress bickers over slices of the power pie,
03:47it continues to snub the NDA.
03:49Tamil Nadu Congress Chief has alleged
03:51a rift between the BJP and the AIADMK
03:54and rained fire on Amit Shah's visit,
03:56saying people of Tamil Nadu will never accept BJP.
04:01Amit Shah Ji will come more than 100 times also.
04:04There is no space for Tamil Nadu.
04:07Tamil Nadu people won't accept BJP.
04:09As alliances remain fluid and negotiations continue,
04:14the power struggle in Tamil Nadu politics
04:16is intensifying by the day.
04:19Vinaga Arjun, Dwarakarnath, and Pramod Madhav,
04:22Bureau Report, India Today.
04:26And I'm going to go straight to Madurai,
04:29where Congress MP Manikam Tagore joins me live.
04:33Mr. Tagore, you have said
04:34that it's time to discuss sharing of power,
04:37not just seats, with your party strategist,
04:40Praveen Chakravarti, noting that
04:42Tamil Nadu Congress carder want more seats,
04:46power, and power, while flagging DMK debt issues.
04:50Are you coordinating a unified high command push
04:54for cabinet birds or deputy chief minister
04:57post the elections or, you know,
05:01despite your another colleague, Jyoti Mani,
05:04warning that such feuds risk putting the party
05:07on the path of destruction?
05:12There are two issues into it.
05:13One is that which I expressed today
05:17is about a survey done by the Loyola College.
05:20Students, those organizations,
05:24which has been through the Loyola College,
05:26and they have come out with a number
05:28where the India Alliance,
05:30if as of now, when it is put together,
05:33will be able to score around 30 percentage of votes,
05:37and the NDA will be having a difficulty
05:40to form a government,
05:41and the Tamil Nadu chief minister
05:43will have as individual popularity.
05:47The chief minister will be number one,
05:49and the Sriyedda Party parliament
05:50will be number three.
05:51Before I had pictured in that story
05:55that there is no single party
05:57that is going to form a government.
05:59It is going to be a coalition,
06:00which is going to be a strong coalition,
06:01which is going to form a government.
06:03Therefore, this is the right time
06:05that we need to speak about
06:06the power sharing arrangements also,
06:12because we need to understand
06:14Congress party in Tamil Nadu
06:16for 58 years has been out of power,
06:18but we have helped many people win their election.
06:22Then we have been,
06:22Congress party has steadily losing the ground,
06:27the card as,
06:28because we were not in positions in power,
06:31and we are not an NGO organization.
06:33We are a political party.
06:35We should,
06:35whichever guarantees Congress party wants to give,
06:38whatever promises we are making
06:40to the people of Tamil Nadu,
06:42when we are in the government only,
06:44we will be able to execute it.
06:45That is the idea I have been mentioning.
06:49And I am convinced that the party workers want that thing.
06:53It is not from Delhi.
06:55It is from the ground up.
06:56We are,
06:57whichever place,
06:58when we are going to meet the Congress workers,
07:00Congress workers say,
07:01how many years we will be out of power,
07:04when the model of power sharing is worked out nationally,
07:08in the state levels also,
07:10in different models.
07:10Okay,
07:11fine enough.
07:11That is a valid question that you have said.
07:13And then,
07:14you are saying that it is bottoms up,
07:15it is not coming from the high command.
07:18Mr. Tigor,
07:19you also argue that no party wins alone in Tamil Nadu,
07:22and that Congress must share power as before.
07:26What is the minimum?
07:27Like,
07:28specific ministries,
07:29like how many cabinet birth,
07:31or are you of the opinion that there should be some kind of an understanding
07:36that should be reached clearly between the DMK and the Congress,
07:41this big brother attitude of the DMK will no longer work?
07:47No,
07:47we have been,
07:47we need to understand that the DMK Congress alliance,
07:51for example,
07:52before DMK was with the Vashfai government in 2019,
07:57and from 2004,
07:59the alliance with DMK has been there for around 22 years,
08:03except one election.
08:042014 was the only election.
08:07We were not together.
08:08DMK and Congress were not together,
08:10but we had run successful elections in 2004,
08:132006,
08:142009,
08:152019,
08:1821,
08:1924.
08:20Therefore,
08:20we were not able to have a successful elections in 2011,
08:242016.
08:25This is the two elections which just completely messed up.
08:29All of the elections we were together,
08:31and we were able to have a coordinated effort in the ground level.
08:35The question here is that there is a process in these negotiations part,
08:40and we had been,
08:41so in 2006 to 2011,
08:43DMK was a minority government.
08:45We supported from the outside,
08:47but they were part of the government in the national level.
08:50The fourth,
08:50there is this Congress workers and leaders in the ground level feel that this and the Congress party's alliance with DMK must be strengthened.
09:04Congress leadership has appointed a negotiating committee under the leadership of the in charge,
09:09Mr. Girish Chotankar,
09:10and the PCC president,
09:12Salva Pradha Gheji,
09:14and the CLP leader,
09:15Rajesh Kumar.
09:16They had met the Honorable Chief Minister on December 3rd,
09:19and we are waiting,
09:20today is December,
09:22January 5th,
09:23we are waiting for the progress to be made from DMK part.
09:27We are very clear that the India Alliance there,
09:29we want the India Alliance to be moved forward,
09:33and we are an ideological partners,
09:36we stand in Delhi,
09:38in the ground,
09:39together,
09:40to fight against the communal forces in their,
09:43against their entry into Tamil Nadu.
09:45The question is that,
09:47how the fight is together,
09:49we are together,
09:50but there is a demand in the ground that the promises what we make,
09:56we are not able to fulfill as only electoral partners.
10:00We need to be in the governing partnership also,
10:03because the partnership,
10:04when we make promises,
10:06we are not able to fulfill it.
10:07When we give guarantees,
10:08we are not able to fulfill that thing.
10:10When we are not in the government,
10:11that's the only question on which we have been.
10:12But Mr. Chakwar,
10:12then how do you look at your own party MP,
10:14Jyoti Mani,
10:15who is saying that internal division and selfish interests
10:18are heading Tamil Nadu Congress to ruin?
10:23That story,
10:24my in charge,
10:25Mr. Girish Chotankar,
10:26has cleared it.
10:27That was not on the policy matters she was speaking.
10:30She was speaking about one district issue.
10:33One district president of Dindikal West,
10:36she had issues with that district president.
10:39Therefore,
10:39that district president,
10:41there is a disciplinary action being pinned in.
10:43Therefore,
10:43that's a wrong perception,
10:46which has been built in the media,
10:48that she was being insulted by the district president
10:51and those people around him.
10:53Therefore,
10:53they were not able to help her,
10:55they were blocking the BLA two appointments also.
10:59Therefore,
10:59she was wounded by that kind of behavior.
11:02So she has tweeted on that ground.
11:03It has nothing to do with these things.
11:05Our in charge,
11:06the ACC,
11:06Chiat Girish has had a clear conversation with the MP and the PCG president also.
11:12That's been dressed out.
11:14There is no confusion in the Congress Party assets.
11:16We are in the India Alliance.
11:18We want the India Alliance to be strengthened.
11:21We want the DMK Alliance to be strengthened.
11:23We want the chief minister to have a second term.
11:25We are completely with him.
11:27They have delivered on the promises which they made it.
11:30So we are with them in this process.
11:33But our promises,
11:35what we are making,
11:36we are not able to implement.
11:37That's the thing we are having in the ground.
11:39Okay.
11:40There is the challenger that you are facing.
11:42I mean,
11:42those images of him are on your screens as well.
11:46TVK chief actor Vijay.
11:49Are you not worried that here is someone waiting to occupy,
11:55he has clearly occupied the opposition space
11:58and has gained a lot of popularity on the ground as well?
12:01That's a good thing.
12:04In my view,
12:06the TVK's formation
12:09and the TVK's bold steps
12:12to enter into politics.
12:14Mr. Vijay's entry into politics has given signal
12:18and it has increased the participation of the youngsters
12:23in a bigger way in the political movement.
12:25We have to understand that
12:26Tamil Nadu,
12:27because of BJP's politics,
12:29controlling the ADMK completely
12:31after Ms. Jalanta's demise,
12:33has controlled the ADMK
12:35and the ADMK is being shrinking.
12:37And as BJP's model in other states,
12:39like Janata Adal's rule states,
12:41Janata parties and others
12:43in the northern part of India,
12:44as you well know,
12:45because you are a senior journalist,
12:47BJP always observe the party
12:49whomever they are alliance with that.
12:52That process,
12:53they are doing it with the ADMK.
12:55Suddenly Vijay's entry into the political arena
12:58and forming a party
13:00has given new hope to those voters of the ADMK
13:03to shift towards the TVK.
13:05That's a good thing for us
13:06because the secular politics of Tamil Nadu
13:09will be kept as secular.
13:11We want that to be there.
13:13We don't want,
13:13we are with the India alliance,
13:15we are with the DMK,
13:16but the TVK's entrance
13:17has stopped the BJP from expanding in Tamil Nadu.
13:20Okay, that's an interesting reading there.
13:22Manikam Tagore,
13:23always a pleasure speaking to you.
13:24Thank you so much for joining us.
13:26Thank you so much.
13:26Let's shift focus now to Trichy
13:29from where Dr. Tamili Sai Sondarajan is joining us,
13:32former BJP president of Tamil Nadu
13:35and also former governor of Telangana
13:37and left-hand governor of Puduchedi.
13:40Tamili Sai,
13:41thank you for speaking to India today.
13:44DMK says that Home Minister Amit Shah's event today,
13:48which was Nama Oru Modi Pongal
13:52was an effort to destabilize unity.
13:57How does BJP's Pongal outreach
14:00where you had a number of ports as well,
14:03how will it really strengthen Tamil culture
14:06and the entire,
14:09you know, the point that has been made
14:11that DMK is anti-Hindu?
14:14How does it really help your narrative?
14:18First of all,
14:20I'm very happy that we celebrated the Pongal.
14:23That is the Tamil traditional festival.
14:26And I'm very happy.
14:27We are the first political part
14:29because all the political parties
14:30will celebrate Pongal.
14:32We are the first party to celebrate the Pongal,
14:34a grand festival,
14:35the name of our honorable prime minister.
14:37And it is participated
14:39and it was inaugurated
14:41by our honorable home minister.
14:43And 1,008 parts,
14:44all participants were our Karyakartas,
14:47our Maghila Murcha Karyakartas.
14:50So we are very happy.
14:51It has created a momentum
14:53among the BJP Karyakartas.
14:55And it has given a clear message
14:58to Tamil Nadu
14:59that BJP is for Tamil Nadu.
15:03BJP is not anti-Tamils.
15:05BJP is not only for other states.
15:08So our honorable co-minister
15:11was given a very clear message.
15:14We are for Tamil Nadu.
15:16Okay.
15:17With the DMK dismissing
15:18Amit Shah's NDA poll prediction
15:20as propaganda
15:21during the Pongal celebrations today,
15:25how are you really hopeful
15:27of this tie?
15:28The BJP-DMK tie,
15:30IIA-DMK ties.
15:32And how will you be able
15:33to come to power?
15:33I mean,
15:34is this more than rhetoric?
15:37Or pure rhetoric
15:38because you want to really
15:39drum up support.
15:40There is misgovernance,
15:42empty promises,
15:44empty propaganda
15:45and no safety for women.
15:49And there is higher confusion
15:50in their alliance itself.
15:53And people,
15:54they don't want only power.
15:56There should be management.
15:58There should be administration.
16:00So constantly fighting
16:01with the central government
16:02and constantly
16:04not taking forward
16:05the people-centric issues,
16:07only giving promises,
16:09particularly nearing the election.
16:11They are giving the promises.
16:12Most of the poll promises
16:14were not kept.
16:16They did not fulfill it.
16:17So with all these things,
16:20our honorable home minister
16:21was very clear in his message.
16:23NDA will come to power.
16:25BMK should be defeated.
16:27So we have formed
16:28a strong alliance
16:29and there is
16:30anti-incumbency is there
16:32and the DMK there is
16:33even now,
16:34there is confusion
16:35within their alliance.
16:37So the message
16:37is very clear
16:38and apart from that,
16:40the corrupt DMK government
16:41should be finished.
16:43They should not come to power
16:44because the people
16:45are suffering
16:46because of corruption.
16:47Dr. Sondarajan,
16:48let's look at those images
16:50and I'll ask the producer
16:51to put the images
16:52of rallies of
16:54actor Vijay.
16:54actor Vijay
16:57is now being seen
16:58as a strong
16:59anti-government voice,
17:02a strong
17:02anti-DMK voice.
17:04He is occupying
17:06a space
17:07which has been
17:08so far occupied
17:09by the AIA-DMK.
17:11Are you not worried
17:12about his rise
17:13and his popularity?
17:14No, first of all
17:19in a political scenario
17:20we cannot avoid
17:22newcomers,
17:23new parties,
17:24particularly
17:24always the
17:26stars have a
17:27fascination
17:28towards politics
17:29and they believe
17:30that fan-finding
17:31and following
17:33will be the
17:34cadres
17:34but it is very difficult.
17:36Definitely Vijay
17:37will be a player
17:38I can say
17:39but he cannot be
17:40a clear political player.
17:42He cannot be a clear
17:43political opponent
17:44unless he aligns
17:45with any of the
17:47older parties.
17:50Isolatedly
17:50he cannot
17:51because he can
17:52create some
17:54noise
17:55but it cannot be
17:56a voice of the people
17:58that I am very clear.
17:59Even now
18:00the fight is
18:00between the
18:01DMK
18:02and the
18:02NDA alliance
18:04ADMK
18:05and the BJP
18:06and I am very clear
18:07because we have
18:08formed a very
18:09formidable alliance
18:10as our honourable
18:11Amishaji
18:12clearly mentioned
18:13it is a natural
18:14alliance.
18:15So natural
18:15alliance has been
18:16formed
18:16and as he also
18:18said yesterday
18:19when we combine
18:20the vote share
18:20of the ADMK
18:22and the BJP
18:23definitely
18:23it outnumbers
18:25the other parties
18:26so definitely
18:27there will be
18:28a change
18:29of government
18:29and it will be
18:31in favour of
18:31NDA
18:32and 2026
18:34it will be
18:34in favour of
18:35that
18:36the new seed
18:37has been sowed
18:38by our honourable
18:39home minister
18:39even in the
18:40beginning of
18:41the new year
18:41and in the
18:42beginning of
18:43the festival
18:43season.
18:46Alright
18:46Dr. Tamili
18:49Sai Sondarajan
18:50always a pleasure
18:50speaking to you
18:51ma'am
18:51thank you
18:51for joining us
18:52let's now
18:54play that sound
18:55bite of
18:55home minister
18:56Amit Shah
18:56and what he
18:57had to say
18:58about the
19:00DMK
19:00and the
19:02chief minister
19:02present
19:03Mr. M.K.
19:04Stalin
19:04M.K.
19:34this
20:04Hindus of the procession will be used to stay in the procession
20:10Hindus of the procession will also be used to stay in the procession
20:18I want to say that our citizens of the government
20:26And let me go to the DMK spokesperson now, Mr. Anadurai.
20:40In fact, Sarvanan Anadurai joins us now.
20:44Sarvanan ji, Home Minister Amit Shah, while celebrating the Modi Pongal with 2000 women in Trichy,
20:52he has said that the entire Tamil culture is being protected by the BJP.
21:02And that as far as the DMK is concerned, it has much to worry about.
21:06You heard what he had to say. What are your reactions?
21:10See, it's still more, I would say it's a worse situation.
21:16When it comes to the coalition or it comes to the alliance of ADMK and the NDA,
21:23probably it is the pact between them, pact between the ADMK and the, I wouldn't say between ADMK and the BJP.
21:32The BJP has declared that it is going to be a coalition government there.
21:37That is the most pathetic thing that could ever happen to the ADMK party.
21:41And here all the ADMK leaders are claiming that the government that is going to be formed is that of the ADMK government.
21:48But Mr. Amit Shah has made it very, very clear that it is going to be an NDA government.
21:52When he says it is an NDA government, of course, ADMK is the biggest party here.
21:56The biggest partner, biggest share, vote share and everything, it is the ADMK which has it.
22:00And he, every time he says it is going to be an NDA government, it is the BJP which is ensuring,
22:07which is pressurizing the ADMK to have a coalition government.
22:11See, in the state of Tamil Nadu, if you look at the politics, there has never been any coalition government.
22:17People always give a mandate, people always prefer a majority party to rule.
22:24That is how the mandates always have been here in the last 75 years, ever since the independence.
22:30And in the state of Tamil Nadu, our party or whatever, whichever party, the ADMK,
22:35they have never agreed for a coalition government in the past.
22:40So, I think that is a very moot point.
22:42I don't think that will have any impact in the elections.
22:46But the position of the ADMK party is very, very precarious.
22:54Because it is Mr. Amit Shah who is calling all the shots with regard to that alliance.
22:59I don't think the ADMK parties are liking that.
23:02Okay.
23:02You are saying that their situation, the alliance, the NDA alliance situation is very precarious.
23:08What about your alliance?
23:10In fact, Congress MP Manikam Tagore, who was just here on the show a few minutes ago,
23:15has said that there should be some kind of sharing of power as well.
23:18Will DMK commit to a formal coalition government pre-elections also?
23:26Or do you believe that Congress is only for vote banks and not government share?
23:31With regard to this coalition, our leadership is very, very clear.
23:35And view of a few members of the Congress party, can that be equated as that of the Congress party?
23:46And it's also very clear that the alliance, whatever, the talks and everything, is at a
23:55very, very premature stage.
23:58The talks have not formally begun.
24:00So, these questions, these issues are very premature.
24:05The leadership of both the parties are in excellent rapport.
24:11I think that's what counts when it comes to this alliance talks.
24:14Okay.
24:15I have just enough time for one more question for you.
24:17The Congress carder and in fact the AICC data head are openly saying that 75% of Tamil Nadu
24:24Congress workers want more seats, power and respect.
24:28Is this some kind of public vote of no confidence in how DMK has treated its allies so far?
24:36See, there is nothing, no fear.
24:39We have not yet come to that stage.
24:41The alliance talks itself has not started with regard to the elections.
24:45We are in the midst of SIR and how to ensure that the people will not be left out of SIR.
24:51So, we are concentrating on that.
24:54And I think all the other Congress leaders are also instructed their party carders to go and work on this SIR issue.
25:01Few members, few party MPs or someone talking about this.
25:07I don't think we can take that that this is what the Congress is demanding.
25:11See, we have got a long way to go.
25:13I think we have not reached that stage yet.
25:17All right, Mr. Sarbanan.
25:19I appreciate your time.
25:19So, we got you voices from various political parties from the Congress to the DMK to the BJP on the show tonight.
25:27And so, certainly the battle for Tamil Nadu has only begun.
25:31Both sides are firming up their alliances.
25:34And the seat-sharing formula will know perhaps closer to when the model code of conduct kicks in
25:39with the Election Commission announcing the poll dates.
25:41That's all from me on this edition of NewsTrack.
25:44I'll be seeing you tomorrow.
25:45Thanks for watching.