Chennai, Oct 10:
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi met Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and TVK president Vijay over lunch at the latter’s residence on East Coast Road in Chennai on Friday, with discussions understood to have centred on the prevailing political situation and strengthening the newly formed Secular Social Justice Victory Alliance (SSJVA).
The meeting assumes significance as it came days after the TVK formally joined the INDIA bloc and a day after the party registered victories in both Assembly by-elections in Tamil Nadu. It also took place on the eve of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Chennai.
Rahul, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, was in Chennai for a day as part of his outreach programme to interact with students and members of Gen Z on issues including NEET and employment opportunities. The meeting was his third visit to Tamil Nadu since the Assembly elections and his second direct interaction with Vijay.
The one-to-one meeting at Vijay’s ECR residence is understood to have covered the expansion of the SSJVA, which includes the Congress, VCK, IUML and MDMK led by Vaiko. The Congress, VCK and IUML are part of the TVK-led government, while the MDMK is a constituent of the alliance.
The meeting also took place amid discussions within the Congress over Rahul Gandhi being projected as the INDIA bloc’s prime ministerial face for the 2029 Lok Sabha elections, while some TVK supporters have projected Vijay as a potential national leader. A section of Congress leaders is understood to expect the TVK to support Rahul’s candidature, though the issue was not publicly confirmed as a subject of discussion at Friday’s meeting.
The political realignment followed the Congress’s decision to leave its long-standing alliance with the DMK after the April Assembly elections and join hands with the TVK. On October 3, the TVK formally attended an INDIA bloc meeting convened by Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president and Lok Sabha MP B. Manickam Tagore. The two Left parties, the CPI and CPI(M), which extend outside support to the Vijay government, also attended, though they are not part of the SSJVA.
The October 3 meeting adopted a resolution welcoming the TVK into the INDIA bloc and praised Vijay for deciding to work in coordination with the alliance. The parties also criticised the Union government, accusing it of using the Election Commission of India to deprive nearly 13 crore people of their voting rights through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, and demanded the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The alliance decided to organise a major protest in Chennai on October 15 as part of the INDIA bloc’s nationwide ‘Save Democracy’ agitation against the Election Commission and the BJP-led Union government over allegations of ‘vote chori’. As a build-up to the main demonstration, protests will be held at district headquarters across Tamil Nadu on October 13 and 14 to highlight concerns over the SIR exercise, which the alliance described as an attack on democracy.
Manickam Tagore said leaders of all INDIA bloc parties in Tamil Nadu would participate in the October 15 demonstration, confirming the TVK’s participation. The party had faced criticism from the main Opposition DMK for not making its position on the SIR exercise explicit.
The October 3 meeting adopted five resolutions, including the demand for the Chief Election Commissioner’s removal and the decision to take the SIR issue to the people through protests across the State. Friday’s meeting between Rahul Gandhi and Vijay came against this backdrop of closer coordination between the Congress and the TVK following their post-election alliance.