Chennai, 22 November (H.S.) : The Congress party has officially constituted a five-member coordination committee to initiate formal discussions with partners in the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance ahead of the two thousand twenty-six Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.

The All India Congress Committee president, Mallikarjuna Kharge, established the panel. It is led by the party's Tamil Nadu in-charge, Girish Chodankar, and includes the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president, K. Selvaperunthagai, two All India Congress Committee secretaries, and the Congress Legislature Party leader.

This move marks the Congress party's first structured step in finalising its electoral strategy in the state and comes amid growing speculation regarding potential back-channel engagement with actor and TVK president Vijay, who has announced his party will contest the upcoming assembly elections.

The formation of the committee is widely seen as an attempt to affirm the party's unwavering commitment to the DMK-led front and quell the speculative reports.

Senior Congress leader and former Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram welcomed the announcement. In a statement shared on X, he noted that the formation of the committee to engage with the DMK reaffirms the unity of the INDIA bloc.

He expressed hope that this official announcement would finally bring an end to the recurring speculative news reports about the Congress party’s alliance position in Tamil Nadu.

The Congress, as a key constituent, is expected to begin these crucial discussions with its alliance partners in the coming weeks. The evolving political stance of Vijay’s TVK is anticipated to be a major factor in shaping the final seat-sharing equations in the state.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Dr. R. B. Chaudhary