Senior DMK leader R.S. Bharathi has made it unambiguously clear that his party’s split with the Congress is permanent, warning that no reconciliation was possible and that DMK’s grassroots workers would never accept the Congress back into the alliance, regardless of what party leadership decided.

Speaking to reporters in Pudukkottai on Sunday, Bharathi said the two parties had completely parted ways and that there was nothing left to discuss. His remarks came in direct response to recent criticism from Congress leaders over DMK’s alliance politics, and he did not hold back. Aiming Congress leader Manickam Tagore, he suggested that Congress leaders would do well to examine their own electoral standing before passing judgement on others.

Bharathi then turned his attention to the upcoming local body elections, where he was equally combative. He called for the polls to be held as early as January and threw down a direct challenge to rivals, including the BJP. “In local body elections, voters choose candidates based on their individual merit and public service. If our opponents are confident of their strength, let them win even a single mayoral post,” he said.

On the question of an alliance with the BJP, Bharathi was categorical, it would not happen. The DMK, he said, remained firmly rooted in its Dravidian principles and would not compromise them for political convenience.

He also took a swipe at the growing culture of political defections in Tamil Nadu, invoking the phrase “Aya Ram Gaya Ram” to describe politicians who switch parties in pursuit of positions and personal gain. He predicted that most of those who had recently changed allegiances would find little lasting success and would eventually return to where they started once political winds shifted.

Bharathi was equally dismissive of the recent electoral performance of actor-turned-politician Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam. He argued that the party’s rise was driven by personality and social media rather than any genuine ideological support, and that a majority of voters had not, in fact, backed TVK. The real test, he said, would come when the party was measured not by popularity but by governance and the expectations of ordinary people.