DMK Seeks New Seating in Lok Sabha Amid End of Alliance with Congress

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has formally ended its alliance with the Congress, with party MP Kanimozhi writing to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to request a change in seating arrangement. The DMK, with 22 MPs, is the fourth largest constituent of the Opposition INDIA alliance. Kanimozhi cited "changed political circumstances" and the end of the alliance with the Congress as the reason for the request.
The DMK and Congress had been allies for decades, but the relationship has been under strain since the Congress supported Vijay's TVK in the Tamil Nadu elections. The DMK has made its sense of betrayal clear, with a party leader calling the Congress a "backstabber".
The Congress has said it is supporting TVK to honour the mandate of the people of Tamil Nadu, but the move has been criticized by other opposition parties. Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav took an apparent jibe at the Congress, posting images of himself with DMK chief MK Stalin and Trinamool Congress Chairperson Mamata Banerjee.
The immediate outlook is that the Lok Sabha Speaker will consider the DMK's request, while the Congress and other opposition parties will likely respond to the developments in the coming days. The DMK's move is expected to have implications for the Opposition INDIA alliance, with the possibility of further realignments and tensions between parties.