The recent Assembly election results have not only weakened regional parties and smaller anti-BJP players, but also recalibrated the power balance in the Lok Sabha, where the ruling party lacks a majority on its own.

While the BJP continues to rely on its NDA allies to cross the halfway mark in the Lower House, the electoral setback suffered by regional heavyweights has handed the party a significant strategic cushion. With the DMK distancing itself from former ally Congress, it is keeping open the option of extending issue-based support to the BJP, sources said.

In the Lok Sabha, where the BJP has 240 MPs and depends on allies to pass Bills, potential support from the 22-member DMK — the two parties were allies from 1999 to 2003 — on issues they can find common ground on could prove crucial for its legislative and reform agenda. Recently, however, the Constitutional amendment Bills to expand the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies with the objective of implementing the women’s reservation law was defeated as the NDA failed to secure the required two-thirds majority, with the DMK leading the pushback.

After actor-politician Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) emerged as the single-largest party in Tamil Nadu, the Congress, followed by the Left, IUML and VCK, backed it.

Churn in national politics

Sources said the DMK’s openness to issue-based support marks a significant shift in national politics and could benefit the BJP, which won only 1 seat in Tamil Nadu. “The developments in Tamil Nadu are ultimately good for the BJP. They have not only exposed the Congress, weakened the INDIA bloc, and cautioned other Opposition parties against the Congress, but also opened the door for a favourable political realignment. One cannot rule out the possibility of a DMK-AIADMK-BJP coalition emerging before the 2029 Lok Sabha polls,” a senior BJP leader said.

Sources within the DMK also confirmed that its “options are open” and that the new political situation has “pushed the party back to the negotiation table”. “The Tamil Nadu government is surviving on a razor-thin majority, so our options remain open. The DMK remains intact as a party and we can negotiate with the BJP in Parliament as well,” a DMK MP said.

Asked whether the DMK would consider supporting the Narendra Modi-led government on key Bills and issues, the MP said: “The probability is very high. We have so far maintained a hostile stand, but now we can negotiate with the BJP. Having lost basic trust in the Congress, there is nothing stopping us from moving closer to the BJP.”

Sources said the DMK could consider supporting the BJP on issues such as “One Nation, One Election” — the proposal to synchronise Lok Sabha and Assembly polls. The Bill, formally titled the 129th Constitution Amendment Bill, is currently under examination by a Joint Parliamentary Committee headed by BJP leader P P Chaudhary.

DMK leaders argued that closer coordination with the Centre could help the party secure favourable decisions on infrastructure projects and policy matters such as NEET, allowing it to claim credit for development initiatives in Tamil Nadu. “We can bring in projects and policies that aid Tamil Nadu’s development,” the MP added.

Tamil Nadu has consistently opposed NEET, arguing that the national entrance examination disadvantages students from rural areas and the State Board system.

What may work for DMK

For the DMK, there are several reasons to lean towards the BJP, the most immediate being political relevance at the national level. The party has suffered a major defeat; its leader and former Chief Minister M K Stalin lost his own seat’ and a strong faction within the DMK was keen to prevent Vijay from forming the government. In an attempt to stop him, the party even held talks with arch-rival AIADMK. However, its coalition partners abandoned it to back the TVK, including the Congress, its ally for more than two decades. Last week, in a move signalling a formal rupture in the decades-long partnership, DMK parliamentary leader Kanimozhi Karunanidhi wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla seeking separate seating arrangements for DMK MPs.

“The Congress has now become a party that Opposition parties can no longer trust. The TMC (Trinamool Congress) already had issues with the Congress, the RJD (Rashtriya Janata Dal) is unhappy, and now even the SP (Samajwadi Party) will be cautious,” another DMK MP said.

The DMK also has the option of building a formidable non-Congress, non-BJP “Third Front” with parties such as the RJD, the TMC, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), and the YSR Congress Party.