Congress MPs Manickam Tagore and Jothimani spar on social media over horse-trading allegations against TVK

Subscribed with another email? Logout and Login with that one. Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription The View From India Looking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective. First Day First Show News and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming. Today's Cache Your download of the top 5 technology stories of the day. Science For All The weekly newsletter from science writers takes the jargon out of science and puts the fun in! Data Point Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers THEdge At the cutting edge of education and careers Health Matters Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there Gender Agenda Stories from beyond the binary. The Hindu On Books Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features. Updated - May 26, 2026 05:26 pm IST - MADURAI Manickam Tagore; Jothimani | Photo Credit: G. Moorthy; Facebook/Jothimani Sennimalai A war of words broke out between Congress MPs B. Manickam Tagore and Jothimani over DMK president M.K. Stalin’s criticism that the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) was indulging in horse-trading after three AIADMK MLAs resigned from their posts and joined the ruling party on Monday (May 25, 2026). Responding to Mr. Stalin, Mr. Tagore, representing the Virudhunagar Lok Sabha constituency, asked in a social media post on Monday why the DMK president was “screaming over the resignation of the three AIADMK MLAs.” “They have openly joined the TVK after their resignation. This is a political decision that took place in front of the public,” he said. Mr. Tagore also took a dig at the DMK, claiming that the people of Tamil Nadu knew who tried to play [politics] with those in power at the Centre without respecting the public’s mandate. “They also know who stood up to save the people’s government,” he remarked. However, on Tuesday (May 26), Karur MP Jothimani said that the Congress cannot take a dual stand of supporting horse-trading within Tamil Nadu while opposing it outside the State. “Horse-trading was the weapon used by the BJP to weaken democracy and the Congress in India. The BJP has been employing horse-trading in various States, against the people’s mandate, for preventing the Congress from forming government or preventing a Congress government from continuing in power,” she said. “If the Congress acts like a force to weaken the democracy, it would be a historical betrayal to the ideologies of [M.K.] Gandhi and [Jawaharlal] Nehru,” she said. Ms. Jothimani said that the Congress would support the TVK for good governance, but her party could not back all its actions. “Such acts should be strengthening the democracy, not weakening it,” she said. The party should also not mince words to express its opinion in such situations, she said, adding that no member of the party can justify horse-trading. Reacting to Ms. Jothimani’s veiled remark against him, Mr. Tagore made a pointed attack on social media, claiming that the Karur MP had not uttered a word in the last three days, when the DMK had denigrated the Congress and its leader Mr. Gandhi and termed the national party “a parasite and traitor.” Ms. Jothimani reacted to Mr. Tagore remarks, wondering what these “sudden” DMK opposers were doing before the TVK was formed, and when comments were made portraying Congress leader Kamaraj in poor light. The Karur MP recalled few incidents wherein she had vociferously revolted against the DMK in the past, when the situation warranted it, even as the Congress was in alliance with the Dravidian party. state politics / Indian National Congress / Tamil Nadu / Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam / alliances and coalition / coalition Copyright© 2026, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. Terms & conditions | Institutional Subscriber Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments. We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.

Congress MPs Manickam Tagore and Jothimani spar on social media over horse-trading allegations against TVK

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Congress MPs Manickam Tagore and Jothimani spar on social media over horse-trading allegations against TVK

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