CHENNAI: Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay hosted Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi at his residence in Neelankarai on Saturday. This was their first meeting since the TVK-led Secular Social Justice Victory Alliance was formed in Tamil Nadu.
Rahul, who arrived at the Chennai airport from Delhi in the afternoon, went to Vijay’s residence, where the chief minister greeted him with an embrace and hosted a lunch for him.
All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary in-charge of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry Ghulam Ahmad Mir, and Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president Manickam Tagore accompanied Rahul during his meeting with Vijay.
Sources said the two leaders discussed the current political situation and the alliance’s future plans for an hour.
After the meeting, Vijay and Rahul left in the same car and stopped at 7Padel Cafe, owned by cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni, in Palavakkam. Rahul and Vijay were flanked by Manickam Tagore, Ghulam Ahmad Mir and Congress Assembly floor leader Tharahai Cuthbert at the cafe.
Rahul then headed to Island Grounds for the ‘Voice of Students’ student interaction programme.
The Rahul-Vijay meeting, coming ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official visit to Chennai on Sunday, gained significance as TVK MLAs and state Congress leaders had been engaging in a battle of words over the prime ministerial candidate for the 2029 Lok Sabha polls.
While a section of the TVK MLAs has called Vijay a PM candidate, Congress leaders have maintained that Rahul remains the undisputed choice of all the party’s allies, including the TVK.
Saturday’s meeting appears to have helped clear the air for leaders and cadres of both parties amid questions from other political parties in the state over the TVK’s stance on the special intensive revision (SIR).
