EP-401 | Manickam Tagore on Tamil Nadu Polls, Vijay, Stalin, Modi, Rahul & Freebies

Manickam Tagore is an Indian National Congress MP representing the Virudhunagar constituency in Tamil Nadu. He serves as Whip of the Congress Party in the Lok Sabha and is the All India Congress Committee in-charge of Andhra Pradesh.

In this episode of the ANI Podcast with Smita Prakash, he discusses the Opposition’s strategy in Parliament, the DMK–Congress alliance, actor Vijay, freebies politics, Congress’ organisational challenges, and the BJP’s presence in Tamil Nadu.

*Timestamps*

00:00 - Introduction

00:22 - Lok Sabha Suspension Revoked

04:25 - DMK–Congress Alliance

08:16 - National Parties in Tamil Nadu

16:28 - Modi vs Rahul Popularity

21:27 - Power Sharing with DMK

26:08 - The Vijay Challenge

35:58 - Tamil Nadu Media

37:21 - Alliance Dynamics in Tamil Nadu

40:24 - Politics of Freebies

46:57 - Rahul as Congress Face

49:42 - Why Rahul Gets Angry

53:50 - Digital Marketing by Political Parties

55:42 - Ravneet Singh Bittu

1:04:28 - Congress Cadre

1:14:23 - Caste Politics in Tamil Nadu