According to reports attributed to senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram, the BJP is actively courting NCP (Sharad Pawar) and DMK to secure support for the 131st Constitution Amendment Bill. The claim exposes fault lines within the INDIA bloc and raises the question of whether Congress's coalition partners are entertaining offers that could fracture opposition unity on a landmark legislative push.

Here is the arithmetic that keeps BJP strategists awake at night and Congress leaders reaching for the microphone: a constitutional amendment requires not a simple majority but a two-thirds supermajority in both Houses of Parliament. The NDA, formidable as it is, does not command that number on its own. Which means every constitutional amendment the ruling dispensation wants to ram through must, by definition, be built on borrowed votes. And borrowed votes come at a price — one that is almost never discussed on camera.

Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram, as reported by ThePrint, has now gone public with what party corridors have apparently been murmuring for weeks: that the BJP is actively wooing two of the INDIA bloc's most powerful constituents — M.K. Stalin's DMK and Sharad Pawar's NCP (SP) — to secure support for the 131st Constitution Amendment Bill. The allegation is explosive not because of what the BJP may be doing, but because of what it reveals about the fragility of the opposition coalition itself.

Let us be precise about the stakes. The 131st Amendment, which seeks to alter the framework for Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservations and the sub-categorisation of Scheduled Castes, is not a minor legislative tweak. It touches the deepest fault lines of Indian caste politics — the very terrain on which both the DMK in Tamil Nadu and Pawar's NCP (SP) in Maharashtra have built their electoral empires. For the BJP to approach these parties is not random fishing; it is a calculated bet that identity politics, when sweetened with the right policy or seat-sharing concessions, can override coalition loyalty.

Political Pulse

The backstage chatter, according to sources familiar with opposition coordination, is less about ideology and more about transactional leverage. The talk in political corridors is that the DMK, which has governed Tamil Nadu with an iron grip and has its own ambitions on OBC sub-categorisation, may find certain provisions of the 131st Amendment quietly aligned with its own state-level agenda — even as it publicly opposes the BJP on every other front. The whisper doing the rounds is stark: Stalin's party may not need to vote for the amendment openly; strategic abstentions or well-timed walkouts can be just as lethal to opposition unity as a yes vote.

On Pawar's flank, the calculus is different but no less dangerous for Congress. NCP (SP), still recovering from the vertical split that saw Ajit Pawar walk into the NDA's embrace, is a party in survival mode. Sharad Pawar, according to the industry of speculation that surrounds him, has never been a man to let ideology prevent a pragmatic deal — his five-decade career is a masterclass in knowing when to hold and when to fold. The talk in Maharashtra's political circles, as reported in multiple analyses, is that any BJP approach to Pawar would come packaged not as a request for a vote, but as an implicit understanding on future state-level cooperation or policy accommodations for the Maratha reservation question.

(This reflects political corridor chatter and unverified speculation, not confirmed fact.)

Now, consider what Chidambaram's public alarm actually signals. A confident coalition leader does not go to the press to warn allies against entertaining the rival's phone calls. You do that when you suspect — or know — that the phone calls are being taken. India Herald's read of what is really driving Chidambaram's statement is this: it is less a warning to the BJP and more a message to Stalin and Pawar, delivered through the media because the private channels evidently were not enough. It is the Congress high command admitting, in the language of political alarm-bells, that it does not have the leverage to keep its own allies in line on a constitutional question this fundamental.

The BJP's strategic genius here, if the outreach is real, lies in understanding a truth Congress has never fully reckoned with: the INDIA bloc is not a coalition bound by shared ideology. It is a coalition of mutual convenience, held together by a common adversary. The moment the adversary offers individual partners a better deal than the coalition does, the coalition's centre does not hold. This is not cynicism — it is the grammar of Indian coalition politics since 1989, and the BJP under Amit Shah has become its most fluent speaker.

There is a historical rhyme worth noting. In 2019, when the BJP needed opposition support to pass the abrogation of Article 370, it secured votes and abstentions from parties that publicly opposed the move. The playbook — identify which opposition parties have a local political reason to quietly support your agenda, then make the private offer — has been tested. What Chidambaram is describing, if accurate, is that playbook being dusted off for the 131st Amendment.

The deeper question, and the one Congress must answer before the next parliamentary session, is what it can offer Stalin and Pawar that is more valuable than what the BJP is reportedly putting on the table. Coalition solidarity is an abstraction; seat-sharing in 2029, policy accommodations in Tamil Nadu or Maharashtra, or a favourable stance on OBC sub-categorisation — these are concrete. And in Indian politics, the concrete has always beaten the abstract.

Where this goes next is worth watching closely. If the DMK or NCP (SP) issue strong, unequivocal public denials of any BJP engagement, the INDIA bloc may survive this round. But if the denials are soft, delayed, or couched in the diplomatic language of "we will decide based on the content of the bill" — that is the sound of a door being left ajar. And in Indian parliamentary politics, a door left ajar on a constitutional amendment is a door already halfway open.

Neither the DMK nor NCP (SP) has issued a detailed public response to Chidambaram's specific allegation as of this report. The BJP has not officially commented on any outreach to opposition parties regarding the 131st Amendment.

Key Takeaways

  • Chidambaram's public warning about BJP wooing DMK and NCP (SP) on the 131st Amendment is, by India Herald's read, a sign of Congress's inability to hold its coalition together privately — not just an attack on the BJP.
  • The BJP needs a two-thirds supermajority for any constitutional amendment and cannot achieve it with NDA numbers alone, making opposition outreach structurally necessary.
  • Both DMK and NCP (SP) have state-level political reasons — OBC sub-categorisation and Maratha reservations respectively — that could make specific provisions of the 131st Amendment quietly palatable, even as they oppose the BJP publicly.
  • The INDIA bloc's vulnerability is structural: it is a convenience coalition, not an ideological one, and individual partners can be peeled off with targeted policy or seat-sharing concessions.
  • Watch for the nature of DMK and NCP (SP) denials — soft or conditional language is the surest tell that backdoor negotiations are real.

By the Numbers

  • A constitutional amendment in India requires a two-thirds supermajority in both Houses of Parliament — a threshold the NDA cannot meet with its own numbers alone.

The 5W+H: Who, What, When, Where, Why, How

  • Who: BJP, NCP (Sharad Pawar faction), DMK, and Congress leader P. Chidambaram, as reported by ThePrint.
  • What: Chidambaram has alleged that the BJP is conducting backdoor negotiations to win DMK and NCP (SP) support for the 131st Constitution Amendment Bill.
  • When: The claim surfaced in June 2026, ahead of the anticipated parliamentary push for the amendment.
  • Where: New Delhi and the broader Indian parliamentary arena, with implications for Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra coalition politics.
  • Why: The BJP needs a two-thirds majority in Parliament to pass a constitutional amendment, which it cannot achieve with its own NDA numbers alone — making outreach to opposition parties essential.
  • How: According to Chidambaram's statement reported by ThePrint, the BJP is reportedly offering political or policy concessions to DMK and NCP (SP) leadership in exchange for support on the amendment bill.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the 131st Constitution Amendment Bill about?

The 131st Amendment Bill deals with the framework for OBC reservations and the sub-categorisation of Scheduled Castes, touching some of the most sensitive fault lines in Indian caste politics. Its passage requires a two-thirds supermajority in both Houses of Parliament.

Why would DMK or NCP (SP) consider supporting a BJP bill?

According to political analysts, both parties have state-level agendas — DMK on OBC sub-categorisation in Tamil Nadu and NCP (SP) on Maratha reservations in Maharashtra — that could align with specific provisions of the amendment, even as they oppose the BJP on other fronts.

Does the BJP have enough votes to pass a constitutional amendment on its own?

No. A constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds majority in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The NDA does not command this supermajority independently, making outreach to opposition parties structurally necessary.

What did P. Chidambaram specifically allege?

As reported by ThePrint, Chidambaram alleged that the BJP is actively wooing NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) and DMK to secure their support for the 131st Constitution Amendment Bill, raising alarms about potential fractures within the INDIA opposition bloc.

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BJP NCP SP DMK 131st Amendment P Chidambaram Sharad Pawar MK Stalin INDIA bloc Constitution Amendment OBC reservations

Sowmiya Sriram

15/07/2026 10:03 AM