Amid renewed debates over power-sharing within political alliances in Tamil Nadu and between the Congress and the DMK, Congress MP Manickam Tagore on Thursday projected Kerala’s United Democratic Front (UDF) as a model for coalition governance based on genuine partnership and shared authority.
In a post on social media platform X, Tagore said the Congress-led UDF in Kerala demonstrated how coalition politics should function not only during elections but also after assuming power. He argued that alliances must be founded on mutual trust and equitable power-sharing, rather than post-election dominance by one party. While noting that the Congress leads the UDF, Tagore emphasised that decision-making authority in the alliance is decentralised and shared among its partners based on their strength, responsibility and mutual confidence.
Without directly naming Tamil Nadu’s ruling alliance, Tagore’s remarks come at a time when questions over equitable representation and power-sharing—particularly between the Congress and the DMK—have resurfaced in the state’s political discourse.
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He underlined that in the UDF, coalition partners contest elections together and continue as governing partners after the results are declared, rejecting what he described as the practice of marginalising allies once electoral goals are achieved. Tagore pointed out that UDF constituents such as the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), Kerala Congress (M) and the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) have held and managed key portfolios including finance, education, public works, industries and social welfare, exercising real administrative authority rather than being assigned symbolic roles.
Describing the UDF’s approach as “coalition dharma in practice”, the Congress MP expressed hope that the alliance’s democratic model would continue to succeed. He invoked the Tamil proverb “Thai pirandhaal vazhi pirakkum”—meaning when the month of Thai begins, new paths and opportunities emerge—to convey optimism for improved governance.
At the national level, the Congress leadership has so far avoided making open demands for a share in power or governance roles. However, several Congress leaders and MPs in Tamil Nadu have publicly raised such demands in recent weeks, particularly on social media and other public platforms, triggering unease within the INDIA bloc.
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