Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam must have its own representation in Parliament to join the INDIA Bloc alliance, a top Tamil Nadu Congress Committee leader said on Sunday.
TNCC president and MP B Manickam Tagore said, “once Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam has its (own) MPs we will ask them to join the INDIA alliance. We cannot keep inviting those parties which does not have MPs. Only, if they have MPs will we include them in the INDIA Bloc.”
Tagore was responding to questions about remarks by TVK MLA and minister for social welfare and women empowerment Jagadeshwari K and some of her colleagues, including revenue minister K A Sengottaiyan, that Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay would be the future Prime Minister and deserved to be PM.
Tagore speaks on Vijay, Rahul Gandhi and Congress
Taking a dig at the remarks, Tagore said, “the TVK leaders are still operating in a fan-club mode. So, you cannot silence people who are in the fan-club mode.” Tagore’s comments came amid the Congress projecting senior party leader Rahul Gandhi as its Prime Ministerial candidate for the 2029 polls.
He said the 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 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,” he claimed.
TVK on joining INDIA bloc
Responding to Tagore’s comments, TVK deputy general secretary and minister for energy resources and law C T R Nirmal Kumar said the party would join the INDIA alliance after securing parliamentary representation.
“Whichever party currently has MPs, the INDIA alliance have formed a coalition together. We will join only after contesting the next Parliamentary elections, because only parties that has MPs will be in the INDIA Bloc,” Kumar said.
On a lighter note, he said including parties without MPs would mean the INDIA Bloc would have to include over 1,000 parties. “So, once MPs come after the election (for TVK), we will definitely join and work together in the INDIA alliance,” he said.
TVK won the April 23 assembly elections in Tamil Nadu but fell short of the mandatory 118 seats needed to form the government. The party later formed a post-poll alliance with the Left parties, CPI and CPI(M), which won two seats each.
The Left parties are offering outside support to the TVK government.
Besides the Left parties, TVK forged an alliance with the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and the Congress, which has representation in the C Joseph Vijay-led cabinet.