Congress, TVK Spar Over PM Face for 2029 as Alliance Tensions Surface
A row over the 2029 PM face has surfaced within Tamil Nadu's ruling alliance, with Congress leaders insisting on Rahul Gandhi while TVK projects Vijay.
A disagreement over the prime ministerial candidate for 2029 has emerged within Tamil Nadu's newly formed alliance, after a senior state Congress leader said partners must accept Rahul Gandhi as the face of the coalition.
Selvaperunthagai, a senior Tamil Nadu Congress leader, said alliance partners have to accept Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial face. He questioned the necessity of being in an alliance otherwise, and said the Congress should tie up only with parties that openly and transparently accept Gandhi for the top post.
His remarks follow repeated statements by leaders of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) projecting its chief, actor-politician Vijay, for the prime minister's post in 2029, including beyond Tamil Nadu. The issue has been described as one of the first major tests for the alliance.
Congress MP Praveen Chakravarthy sought to play down any suggestion of a rupture. He questioned the significance of Selvaperunthagai's remarks, noting that the latter may have held positions earlier that are no longer relevant. Chakravarthy said there was no confusion within the TVK-Congress alliance and pointed to a recent coordination meeting where the alliance's name was discussed and finalised. He said the alliance was strong and that he had met Rahul Gandhi and discussed Tamil Nadu politics with him.
The alliance was formally named the Secular Social Justice Victory Alliance at a meeting in Chennai on September 9, with Vijay as its chairman. Congress leaders, including Tamil Nadu Congress chief B Manickam Tagore and Chakravarthy, attended.
Congress MP Karti Chidambaram also weighed in on the TVK's pitch, saying every party will praise and have aspirations for its own leaders. He added, however, that the prime minister ultimately has to be the leader of a party or formation commanding the support of a majority of MPs in the Lok Sabha. He described this as the political reality of Indian parliamentary democracy, and said regional parties expressing affection for their leaders is not necessarily the same as the parliamentary arithmetic needed to form a government.