Isolation which the Congress has brought upon itself in Tamil Nadu has gone to an extent that the party cannot even find candidates for seats. To fill up the gap, the party has now conscripted candidates.

While a fight for tickets and a rush at the party office is a regular feature in the run-up to elections, hardly any applicant can be seen at Sathyamurthy Bhavan, the office of Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) in Chennai, this time. Though senior TNCC leaders claim they have got applications from 700 people for 39 seats in the state – and that, too, in a matter of two days – sources say it is an enrollment obtained by conscription.

While no party seems to be in a mood to ally with the Congress in Tamil Nadu, even long-time friend Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) is finding it embarrassing to go with the party this time. In a first, the IUML in Tamil Nadu has broken its over 54-year-old alliance with the Congress and instead made clear its intention to partner Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) last week.

The IUML-Congress alliance goes back to 1960.

Now the Congress is desperately trying to join hands with Left, which is left friendless in the State, and seemingly also making efforts to bring DMK in its fold.

While the party is facing alliance troubles nationally, the state unit is facing its own share of in-house troubles. Working without many pradesh Congress committee (PCC) office-bearers, the state unit is not in a position to corner the Jayalalithaa government on any policy issues in the state.

The Congress now has a tough task ahead – to avoid a second major electoral defeat, which as of now looks an uphill mission.