Over the past few weeks, Tamil Nadu chief minister C Joseph Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam has increasingly pushed the idea of projecting him as a potential Prime Minister of India in the 2029 elections, drawing sharp criticism from the Congress.
Senior TVK leader KA Sengottaiyan on Sunday said people from northern Indian states were also looking up to Vijay as a potential leader to rule the country.
“People from north Indian states are also looking forward to our leader Vijay; he is the one who has the power to rule the entire India.”
Speaking at a public meeting held in Tiruppur to list the 100-day achievements of the TVK government, Sengottaiyan said, “I have travelled with MGR and Jayalalithaa. After these two leaders, Vijay is the force who will not only rule Tamil Nadu but also the future India, following their path,” The Print reported.
Tamil Nadu human resources management minister D Sarathkumar also praised Vijay’s work ethic and declared him the “next Indian PM”.
{{/usCountry}}Tamil Nadu human resources management minister D Sarathkumar also praised Vijay’s work ethic and declared him the “next Indian PM”.
{{/usCountry}}“Our leader, who is a chief minister in our hearts, home and St. George’s Fort, is the next Indian PM. You are the next PM. You work without looking at AM or PM, you are definitely the next PM,” he said, according to The Print.
TVK legislator Kallanai, who organised an event marking the party’s 100 days in office, said the public has immense faith in Vijay’s leadership and expressed confidence that he would eventually go on to lead the country and hoist the national flag at the Red Fort as a representative of the Tamil people, news agency PTI reported.
‘Still in fan mode’, says Congress
The sudden push for the “Vijay for PM” narrative has irked the Congress, with party leaders saying that TVK leaders are still operating in a “fan-club mode.”
TNCC president and MP B Manickam Tagore shrugged off the narrative, saying that TVK leaders were still operating in “fan mode” and could not be silenced.
“The TVK leaders are still operating in a fan-club mode. So, you cannot silence people who are in the fan-club mode.”
Backing Tagore’s remark that Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) leaders are operating with a “fan club mindset” by projecting their leader Vijay as a potential PM candidate, Congress MP Karti Chidambaram said that while party workers may harbour deep admiration for their leader, national leadership is ultimately governed by the constitutional requirement of winning 272 seats in the Lok Sabha, news agency ANI reported.
“I fully accept that they have great love, affection, expectation, and admiration for their party leadership. This is their party. What they say within their party makes no difference to the public discourse. In public discourse, what you should ask about is policy and the law. Their wishes within a party make no difference to me,” Chidambaram told reporters.
He added that while every political party has its own dreams and ambitions, the reality is that any prime ministerial aspirant must ultimately have the numbers to command a majority in the Lok Sabha.
“Every party has dreams, ambitions, and desires. One cannot pass laws to stop that. Everyone expresses their own wishes and talks about their favourite leader in their party. But we know what the political reality is. There are 543 constituencies. According to the Constitution, the leader of whichever alliance wins 272 constituencies, or whichever party wins, will be the Prime Minister of India. Anyone who achieves that number can become the Prime Minister, individually or collectively. You and I both know what that political reality is,” he added.
Congress MP P Jothimani echoed similar sentiments, saying that neither the Congress nor the INDIA bloc would accept anyone other than Rahul Gandhi as its prime ministerial candidate. She also urged TVK leaders to focus on governance in Tamil Nadu rather than projecting Vijay for the prime minister’s post, according to PTI.
The backlash comes at a time when the Congress is seeking to project Rahul Gandhi as its potential prime ministerial candidate for the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.
Congress was the first party to issue a letter of consent supporting TVK after the announcement of the election results on May 4. “First of all, regarding Mr Vijay, as soon as his party won the 108 seats, the first person he called was Mr Rahul Gandhi (Congress leader) seeking its support for TVK to form the government. Therefore, all the current ministers of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam know this truth,” Tagore claimed.