Chidambaram admits Congress underestimated Vijay, TVK after Tamil Nadu shocker

P Chidambaram said Congress and the wider political establishment had underestimated Vijay and TVK before the Tamil Nadu verdict. He said Congress backed TVK after the results to avoid another election and President's Rule.

In Short

• Chidambaram says Tamil Nadu political class misjudged Vijay's rise
• Vijay's TVK is first non-Dravidian force to gain power in state
• Congress defends post-poll support to TVK amid political drama

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Friday acknowledged that Tamil Nadu’s political establishment failed to anticipate the scale of Vijay’s rise, as he defended Congress’s dramatic post-poll support to the TVK chief amid high political drama in the state.

Speaking to India Today consulting editor Rajdeep Sardesai, Chidambaram described Vijay’s breakthrough as the first successful attempt by a fledgling non-Dravidian force to capture power in Tamil Nadu.

“Mr Vijay and his Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam is the only organisation which has broken through a barrier, a mental barrier, or a political barrier,” he said.

The former Union minister compared Vijay’s rise with that of former Chief Minister MG Ramachandran, but noted that MGR had emerged from within the DMK, while TVK was barely two years old and lacked an organisational base. “So in that sense, he’s a pioneer,” Chidambaram said.

POLITICAL ESTABLISHMENT MISREAD VIJAY

Chidambaram admitted that parties across the spectrum had underestimated Vijay before the election. “Collectively, the entire political establishment did not think that Mr Vijay will do so well,” he said.

According to him, Vijay’s appeal among youth and women voters, combined with the explosive growth of social media, played a decisive role in the outcome.

“Every category of women voted for him. But I think the youth and the young women voted in very large numbers,” he said.

CONGRESS DEFENDS SUPPORT TO TVK

Rejecting claims that Congress had “backstabbed” the DMK by backing TVK after the election, Chidambaram said the decision was taken only after it became clear that the DMK-led alliance could not form the government. “Backstab is a strong word,” he said.

Referring to DMK chief MK Stalin’s public acceptance of the verdict, Chidambaram said the chapter of a DMK-led government had effectively ended after the results.

According to him, the Congress’s support for Vijay was guided by two considerations: avoiding another election and preventing President’s Rule. “Nobody in Tamil Nadu wants a President’s Rule. A President’s Rule means effectively a BJP rule,” he said.

He insisted that once the results were clear, Vijay was “the only person who can form the government in Tamil Nadu and win a vote of confidence."

PRE-POLL ALLIANCE DEBATE

Chidambaram also disclosed that most Congress MLAs and MPs from Tamil Nadu had backed continuing the alliance with the DMK before the election.

“All but one MLA decided in favour of continuing in the DMK alliance. All but one MP pleaded that we should remain in the DMK alliance. That was my position,” he said.

He, however, stressed that the party changed its stand after the results because Vijay became the only leader capable of forming a government.

INDIA BLOC CAN STILL SURVIVE

Despite the churn in Opposition politics, Chidambaram dismissed suggestions that the INDIA bloc was collapsing after the Tamil Nadu developments.

He noted that Mamata Banerjee had spoken about strengthening the alliance and said the DMK had not formally exited the bloc. “Mr Vijay himself may be persuaded to join the INDIA bloc,” he said.

The remarks came as Tamil Nadu witnessed a day of intense political uncertainty, with TVK scrambling for support amid wavering signals from the VCK, confusion over IUML’s stand, reports of missing MLAs and late-night negotiations over government formation.

- Ends