The Congress-led INDIA (INDI) alliance, formed to challenge the BJP-led NDA, is facing renewed questions about its cohesion after a major rupture in Tamil Nadu. The immediate trigger is the Congress’ shift in the state Assembly election, where actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) emerged as the single largest party and formed the government with Congress support, prompting the DMK to declare its alliance with Congress broken.
The fallout has created turbulence within the national opposition bloc and has also fuelled criticism that Congress is an unreliable partner. The DMK had been a key pillar in building the alliance, given its long-running electoral partnership with Congress since 2004 and the visible rapport between DMK leader M.K. Stalin and Rahul Gandhi during the 2024 Lok Sabha campaign.
The report notes that this is not the first time the alliance has shown cracks since it was launched by 26 opposition parties in Bengaluru in July 2023. Congress has faced friction with multiple regional partners, including strained ties with Left parties in Kerala and West Bengal, and an uneasy relationship with the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh over issues such as seat-sharing and political differences.
Other partners have also expressed dissatisfaction in recent years. The RJD in Bihar is said to view Congress as a burden after an Assembly election defeat, the NCP under Sharad Pawar has kept some distance from alliance activities, and the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal has repeatedly criticised Congress. The Aam Aadmi Party is also reported to have exited the alliance in 2025.
With state-level competition repeatedly spilling into national coordination, the alliance has struggled to project a unified front against the BJP. The Congress-DMK split, in particular, is described as a significant blow to the INDIA bloc’s strength in national politics.
