Chennai, June 3:
Proving long-standing political speculation right, the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) has allotted a Rajya Sabha seat to its alliance partner Congress. The announcement was made on Wednesday (June 3) by party president and Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay.
The decision has triggered renewed attention on All India Professionals’ Congress leader Praveen Chakravarty, who is widely seen as a frontrunner for the seat. Chakravarty had earlier been one of the strongest advocates of a Congress–TVK alliance ahead of the Tamil Nadu Assembly election 2026.
He had also met Vijay at his residence during a key phase when national-level seat-sharing discussions were underway, a move that reportedly displeased the then alliance partner DMK. His consistent backing of a tie-up between Congress and TVK is now seen as politically significant in the current allocation.
The seat became vacant after AIADMK leader C Ve Shanmugam resigned following his election to the Mailam Assembly constituency in the recent polls. With 107 MLAs of its own and backing from alliance partners, TVK was comfortably placed to secure the seat in the Upper House.
The allocation adds to Congress’s growing gains in Tamil Nadu’s post-election political arrangement. Despite winning only five of the 28 seats it contested, the party leveraged a fractured mandate to secure influence beyond its numerical strength.
Earlier, under its understanding with the DMK, Congress had already secured one Rajya Sabha seat. After shifting alignment to support the TVK government, it also obtained two Cabinet portfolios—Higher Education Minister P Viswanathan and Tourism Minister S Rajesh Kumar.
With the latest development, Congress now holds two ministerial positions and two Rajya Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu, marking a significant boost for a party that has otherwise had a limited electoral footprint in the state’s recent politics.