The Congress’ lone success in Telangana among the five states that voted in November triggered a fresh, polarising debate on the ‘North-South’ political divide. The argument, presented by politicians from the Congress and its Tamil Nadu ally, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), was predicated on the Congress’ victories in the Karnataka Assembly polls in May 2023, followed by Telangana.
The party also picked up a significant share of its 52 Lok Sabha (LS) seats from Kerala (15 of 20) as the leader of the United Democratic Front and eight (of 39) from Tamil Nadu as a constituent of the DMK-helmed Secular