Why DMK is reaching out to regional parties to form Third Front
The DMK has reportedly opened discussions with several regional parties, including the Trinamool Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar), as it explores closer coordination outside the Congress-led framework.
People familiar with the developments said the outreach is taking place months after the DMK’s exit from the INDIA alliance. The political equation changed after the Congress decided to separate from the DMK and support the TVK, which won the Tamil Nadu Assembly election in May, according to the report.
DMK MP and deputy general secretary Kanimozhi Karunanidhi has held meetings with leaders of several regional parties. She met Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee at her residence in south Kolkata on Thursday, according to a Trinamool Congress leader cited in the report.
Kanimozhi has also met NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) MP Supriya Sule and Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai in recent days.
The meetings have led to speculation about whether the DMK is seeking to build a broader grouping of regional parties. A senior DMK leader, however, said the interactions were not unusual given that the parties had previously been part of the same coalition.
The leader also said discussions covered issues such as delimitation and the proposed 2027 caste enumeration census.
The DMK did not participate in an INDIA bloc meeting held in June. Following its differences with the Congress, Kanimozhi also wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla requesting separate seating arrangements for DMK MPs.
Her participation in a tea gathering hosted by Birla on August 13 subsequently prompted political speculation. On August 15, Tamil Nadu minister for energy resources and law C.T.R. Nirmal Kumar alleged that the DMK was exploring an understanding with the BJP. The allegation was part of the wider political debate and was not presented as an established fact in the report.