NEW DELHI: The Congress’s ‘southern strategy’ in 82 Lok Sabha seats seems to be in a shambles with DMK veering further away from its former ally for the 2014 elections and heir apparent M K Stalin going to the extent of dubbing the UPA lead player as “untouchable”.

The chances of revival of Congress-DMK alliance appear to have receded irreversibly after the Congress rout in four assembly elections, a jolt to the ruling party that is banking on expanding the UPA ahead of the mega battle for 2014.

There is concern in Congress at indications that DMK has hardened its anti-UPA stance.

The Dravidian outfit had walked out of the central government over the sensitive issue of atrocities on Lankan Tamils but Congress all along harboured the hope that an alliance could be revived towards the elections when the fury on the Chennai streets subsided.

M Karunanidhi’s party is weakly placed against AIADMK which is in power in Tamil Nadu, strengthening the belief that it would be forced to restore a “rainbow alliance” with minor regional parties like DMDK and Congress to take on Jayalalithaa.

But voices emerging from the DMK brass appear to belie the hope on which rides the Congress’s optimism of recovering ground. Congress believes it can salvage its minor position in Tamil Nadu and also lock in a key ally like DMK from drifting towards BJP.

The Dravidian outfit was part of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA for six years and is seen to be open to reviving that combination should the situation arise.

According to sources, the Congress rout in the recent assembly elections in MP, Rajasthan, Delhi and Chhattisgarh seems to have convinced the top brass of DMK against aligning with UPA. All eyes are on DMK’s stance on alliance to be spelt out at a convention this week.

For Congress, it is the second piece of bad news after evidence that it may have overshot the timeline to follow up on its decision to create Telangana by dividing Andhra Pradesh. The two southern states including Puducherry account for 82 Lok Sabha seats.

The window for creation of Telangana has shrunk badly with the Congress’s failure to bring the Telangana bill in the winter session. If Telangana fails to come off before Lok Sabha polls, the party is likely to lose in both the antagonistic regions of Andhra Pradesh, having thrown its lot with Telangana earlier. Andhra accounts for 42 Lok Sabha seats.

At the same time, DMK’s decision to not have any truck with Congress for polls would negatively impact the party in 40 seats.

A key associate of Stalin said, “In recent days, Stalin has been quite vocal against the DMK aligning with Congress for Lok Sabha elections . The results of assembly elections in the four states were a clear indication of the anti-Congress mood and it would be far from advisable to align with it.”

