Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader Udhayanidhi Stalin has once again reiterated that his party was "stabbed in the back" by Congress after the grand old party joined hands with Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) for power in Tamil Nadu. Further, he said his party will never trust the Congress again.
Udhayanidhi made the remarks while addressing a DMK Youth Wing meeting in Chennai on Saturday.
Udhayanidhi, a former deputy chief minister, also blamed Congress for the rise of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) across the country. He said the DMK cadre spilled its "blood and sweat" to help Congress candidates win to keep the BJP out of Tamil Nadu and safeguard secularism.
"For over 20 years, the Congress party rode on our backs. Today, they have stabbed us in the back. No one should ever forget this. We must never trust the Congress at any point in the future, nor should we ever let them come near us again," Udhayanidhi said.
"Even in this election, a virtually non-existent Congress managed to win five seats solely because of our leader's instructions and the tireless work of DMK cadres. But immediately after winning, they ran away for the sake of power, without even a courtesy intimation," he added.
The Congress and the DMK contested the 2026 Tamil Nadu elections in a pre-poll alliance. While the DMK won 59 seats, the Congress bagged five assembly constituencies. Once the results were declared, the Congress sealed an alliance with the TVK, which had fallen short of a complete majority in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.
But Congress' decision has been severely criticised by the DMK and its leaders, with Udhayanidhi now saying that the grand old party will be taught a lesson by the people of Tamil Nadu. On Saturday, he also urged party workers to focus on a course-correction rather than blaming each other for the loss.
"We campaigned outside, but I suspect we failed to campaign within our own homes. Before you go out to politicise strangers, talk politics with your family members and children in a language they understand," the DMK Youth Wing chief said.
ALSO READ - DMK declares Udhayanidhi Stalin as Leader of Opposition in Tamil Nadu Assembly
