00:00Okay, so amidst all the high drama that's taken place in Tamil Nadu, joining me now is P. Chidamram,
00:05Congress MP, former union minister and someone who has been in Tamil Nadu politics for 50 years.
00:12Did you ever think the day would come, Mr. Chidamram, that someone from a non-Dravidian
00:17party in your lifetime would become the chief minister of Tamil Nadu in the manner that
00:23Thalapati Vijay is set to become tomorrow? There were one or two brief opportunities
00:32earlier but never materialized. Mr. Vijay and his Tamil Nadu is the only organization which
00:45has broken through a barrier, a mental barrier or a political barrier or an imaginary barrier
00:53and formed a government other than the DMK and the EIA-DMK. I congratulate him.
01:03So what changed, Mr. Chidamram, according to you in Tamil Nadu that in 2026 the voter decided
01:09to elect someone first time, a film star in his first election ahead of the established
01:14two Dravidian parties. What changed, according to you?
01:18What changed, according to you?
01:21No, actually Mr. MGR was the first film actor to be elected as a chief minister.
01:30But he had spent long years in the DMK. He broke away from the DMK in 1973.
01:39He won a by-election in a Lok Sabha constituency shortly thereafter. And he stormed to power in 1977.
01:51So Mr. Vijay is actually the second one. But what distinguishes Mr. Vijay's victory is that
02:00a fledgling party, hardly two years old, with no organizational structure, has broken through
02:10the so-called barrier and has been voted to government. So in that sense, he is a pioneer.
02:22He is the first person to achieve that.
02:25So it brings me, what changed? Why did he succeed where others had failed? Since the great MGR,
02:31several other film stars tied. The Congress Party also, as you said at one time, through
02:36the breakaway Tamil-Manila Congress, which you were part of, also tried to sort of build
02:41a base for itself. What has changed? Is it the youth vote? What is it according to you,
02:47in your view, looking at these numbers that made Vijay such a superstar in this election?
02:56I can only guess or put my finger on two factors. One, the explosive expansion of the social media.
03:10And two, Mr. Vijay's particular attraction to the youth and especially young women.
03:21Every category of women voted for him. But I think the youth and the young women
03:28voted in very large numbers. Those are the two factors I can put my finger on.
03:36I must ask you this, Mr. Chidhamram. The Congress has now gone in for a post-poll alliance with Vijay.
03:43Your party is being accused of backstabbing the DMK. You were allies with them for 20 years.
03:49You backstabbed them. They are now going to sit separately from you. They don't want to be part
03:54of the India alliance also in parliament. Have you backstabbed the DMK by aligning with Vijay post-poll?
04:05Backstab is a strong word and I may submit it's a wrong word. See, immediately after the elections,
04:14it was pretty clear that the DMK or the DMK alliance, the secular progressive alliance,
04:22could not form a government. And Mr. Stalin himself said, we accept the verdict to the people.
04:28We will sit as a responsible opposition. So that chapter of the DMK able to form a government was over
04:39with Mr. Stalin's statement. Then the high command of the Congress party took a decision
04:48after receiving a letter from Mr. Vijay's TVK that we will support Mr. Vijay. I suppose I'm not part of
04:59the high command. I don't take these decisions. But I presume that two factors weighed with the high
05:07command. Now, do you endorse it? Do you endorse it, Mr. Chidambaram? Because the reports…
05:11Tamil Nadu. Sir, do you endorse this decision to support
05:14Vijay and leave the DMK? Because let me be honest, the buzz is that Mr. Chidambaram was among those who
05:20opposed a pre-pol alliance with Vijay when some younger leaders from the Tamil Nadu unit wanted to tie up
05:26with
05:26him. Is that true? You have got your facts wrong and you didn't allow me to complete the answer.
05:37Please wait to complete the answer. Two factors weighed with the high command. I think one, no party,
05:47nobody in Tamil Nadu wants another election, number one. Number two, nobody in Tamil Nadu
05:57no political party in Tamil Nadu wants a president's rule. A president's rule means effectively a BJP rule.
06:06So to avoid these two contingencies, we had to form a government and the only one in a position to
06:15form
06:15the government was Mr. Vijay. I think the party high command decided that the only way that a government can
06:25be
06:25formed in Tamil Nadu, the only person who can form the government in Tamil Nadu and win a vote of
06:32confidence, Mr. Vijay. And therefore, they supported Mr. Vijay. Now, you are asking about pre-election.
06:41Pre-election meeting, there was one consultation. Everybody knows that. You look back on the newspapers,
06:5117th of January, the party called all the MLAs and all the MPs and some senior leaders. Now, as far
07:02as I'm able to
07:03gather, and I may be wrong, I don't think I'm right or wrong, but I may be wrong. All but
07:09one MLA
07:12decided in favor of the continuing in the DMK Alliance. All but one MP pleaded that we should remain in
07:23the
07:24DMK Alliance. That was my position. I don't hide it. That was my position. But I was in the company
07:31of
07:34nearly 16 MLAs and nine MPs. That was a decision taken by the high command. And we bound, we are
07:43bound by the decision.
07:45So you're saying something important. You're saying you are among the many MPs and MLAs who were in support of
07:53continuing with the DMK Alliance ahead of the elections. In hindsight, therefore, did you get it wrong?
07:59Did all of you underestimate Vijay's popularity, which is why suddenly post-election, you've now rushed to his corner?
08:09No, no, no. Don't point your finger at me. I'm bound by the party's decision. Post-election, it was
08:18absolutely clear, unless you have any doubt, the post-election, the only person who can form the
08:24government is Mr. Vijay. And if we want to avoid president's rule, which is BJP rule, and which we
08:31want to avoid another election, the only way is to support Mr. Vijay to form a government.
08:39Did you underestimate him? Did you underestimate Mr. Vijay, sir? Did you underestimate the appeal of Vijay before the election?
08:49You got that wrong. You… Appeal of Vijay before the election. You got that wrong.
08:54Does you mean me personally or the collective Congress party?
08:59Mr. Chidham, you and the collective, both you and the collective…
09:04I told you… Mr. Chidham, you and the collective…
09:07Part of the party, the high command and the party with the MLAs and MPs did not expect Mr. Vijay
09:18to come near to a majority.
09:21He didn't cross the majority. He came near to a majority. We made an error of judgment.
09:29But so did the DMK. So did the AADMK. So did thousands of political leaders and political workers.
09:43I am not sticking out as a sore thumb. Collectively, the entire political establishment did not think that Mr. Vijay
09:54will do so well.
09:56He did very well. But unfortunately, he did not cross the majority.
10:01My final question. Where does this leave the India Alliance? Mamata Banerjee has lost in West Bengal.
10:08The DMK has left you or you've left the DMK. Heading into the 2029 Lok Sabha election,
10:14will you concede that the India Alliance now faces a serious crisis?
10:18Will there be even an India Alliance in 2029? Will your alliance with Vijay last till 2029 also?
10:27I don't concede anything that you suggest. I don't concede anything. Mrs. Mamata Banerjee has said
10:37after her election defeat that she will work to strengthen the India Bloc. I read a statement from her.
10:47The DMK has not said anything about the India Bloc.
10:51The DMK has only said that the Congress and we have parted ways. But he has not said anything about
11:01the India Bloc.
11:02Mr. Elan Goband, the spokesperson of the DMK has said we are no longer part of the India Alliance.
11:08Please don't. Please don't interrupt me. Please don't interrupt me. I don't interrupt your question.
11:14You must learn this habit. Mr. Vijay himself may be persuaded to join the India Bloc. So, I don't predict
11:25a premature demise of the India Bloc. I think the India Bloc can be revived, can be strengthened, can be
11:33expanded.
11:34Okay. I'm going to leave it there, Mr. Chidamram. Interesting news points that you're giving us,
11:39particularly about what happened before the election. And in a way, you're being candid enough to accept
11:44that there was perhaps an error of judgment, a collective error of judgment in not going with Vijay. But I
11:51thank you for joining me on the show tonight. Thank you so much.
11:57Thank you so much.
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