Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday accused the “power-hungry” Congress of “backstabbing” its long-time ally DMK, trying to deepen the fault-lines within the INDIA bloc.

The Congress had contested the Tamil Nadu polls in coalition with the DMK only to dump it after the results and back actor-turned-politician Joseph Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, helping it form the government.

Modi’s comments came on a day Vijay was sworn in as chief minister with Rahul Gandhi in attendance, the development highlighting their growing proximity although no Congress MLA was inducted into the nine-member
cabinet.

“The Congress betrays its own allies at the first opportunity,” Modi told a BJP rally in Bengaluru. “Just look at Tamil Nadu right now.”

He continued: “The Congress has had a close relationship with the DMK for the past 25-30 years. As an ally, the DMK had pulled the Congress out of crises time and again.… But as soon as the game of power turned, the power-hungry Congress stabbed the DMK in the back at the first opportunity.”

Describing the Congress as a “parasitical force”, Modi said: “Now, the Congress needs yet another party, one on whose back it can ride, to remain politically relevant.”

Modi’s attack on the Congress, Karnataka’s ruling party — while visiting Bangalore in connection with the 45th anniversary celebrations of the Art of Living Foundation of Ravi Shankar — seemed to signal an early pitch for the 2028 Assembly polls.

His remarks came amid a DMK bid for separate seating arrangements in the Lok Sabha from the Congress, whom it has accused of “betrayal” and “backstabbing” and doing in Tamil Nadu “what the BJP does in other states”.

Modi also invoked the BJP’s recent electoral gains, referring specifically to the Bengal poll results, to suggest a similar surge inKerala.

“You may remember that just 10 years ago, we had only 3 MLAs in Bengal. But today there is a BJP government there with more than 200 MLAs. In Kerala, too, we have now gone from 1 to 3 MLAs,” he said.

“The day isn’t far when the BJP-NDA’s numbers in Kerala will rise from three and cross the majority mark.”

Infight jab

Modi took a swipe at the Congress over the delay in government formation in Kerala despite the alliance having a huge majority, mocking the purported intra-party disagreement over the formula for rotating the multiple chief ministerialcontenders.

“Their leaders are unable to decide whether to use a two-and-a-half-year formula or consider rotating chief ministers annually,” he said, questioning the Congress’s fitness to govern.

He also alluded to the reported friction between Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D.K. Shivakumar, accusing the Congress of being consumed by infighting.

“There’s no chapter on governance in the Congress’s book of power. Even here in Karnataka, we’ve been seeing the same thing for the past three years,” the Prime Minister said.

“Instead of solving the people’s problems, the government here spends most of its time resolving internal squabbles. It can’t even be decided how many days this chief minister will stay. It can’t be decided whether or not someone else will get a chance.”

Modi alleged that Congress governments failed to secure re-election because of a pattern of “betrayal”, in contrast with what he described as the BJP’s record of repeat mandates, driven by good governance.

Sarcastic swipe

The Prime Minister flagged the possible economic fallout of the West Asia conflict, urging people to conserve resources and display unity as they had during the Covid pandemic.

“With the growing capability of the country, we must also increase our own efforts. We must collectively conserve resources. We must protect the interests of the country,” he said.

“Just as we faced the challenges during the corona period, similarly, with a spirit of patriotism, India must once again stand together to overcome these global challenges. We must emphasise our respectiveduties.”

Modi had a packed Sunday, addressing two events in Bengaluru in the morning before flying to Hyderabad to launch multiple development projects. He also addressed a BJP rally in Hyderabad where he again cited the Gulf crisis to urge austerity.

Politics spilled into the official event in Hyderabad, as well, where Modi inaugurated development projects in the presence of Telangana chief minister Revanth Reddy of the Congress.

In his speech, Reddy sought greater support from the Centre, citing the support Modi had received as Gujarat chief minister from then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

He urged Modi to extend similar backing to Telangana to help it emerge as a model of development like Gujarat, stressing “there should be no politics in matters of development”.

Modi responded with a somewhat sarcastic swipe, suggesting that help from him might upset Reddy’s political masters and making an oblique remark seen widely as a nudge towards political realignment.

“I would tell Revanth that I am ready to give you whatever the central government gave to Gujarat in its 10 years of rule. But with my knowledge, I can tell you that as soon as I do this, what you are currently receiving will be halved. You won’t reach where you want to,” Modi said.

He seemed to be suggesting that the Congress leadership would get angry and cut short Reddy’s political ambitions.

He added: “Aur isliye achha hai ki mere se hi jodo (So, it’s better to join me).”

The remark drew laughter from the audience while leaving Reddy, seated on the dais, squirming.