TIRUNELVELI: MDMK general secretary Vaiko on Monday said that Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay is not eyeing the post of the Prime Minister and urged TVK ministers to refrain from making such statements. He said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was the only choice for the INDIA bloc’s PM candidate.
Speaking to reporters after attending family functions of party functionaries in Tirunelveli, Vaiko said Vijay himself did not even imagine becoming a PM candidate. “Since Congress is leading the INDIA bloc, Rahul Gandhi can only be the PM candidate,” he asserted.
However, Vaiko praised the Vijay-led TVK government stating that it was providing corruption-free governance and claimed that people were no longer required to pay bribes to get their work done at various government offices.
At the same time, Vaiko alleged that some senior officials who had been corrupt during previous governments were not cooperating with the Vijay government and demanded action against them.
Vaiko supported the continuation of Z+ security for DMK chief MK Stalin and welcomed the live telecast of Assembly proceedings.
On the Cauvery water dispute, Vaiko accused the Cauvery Water Management Authority of failing to discharge its duties and alleged that the Centre was supporting Karnataka.
TNCC chief meets Vijay
Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president and MP Manickam Tagore met CM Vijay at the secretariat on Monday evening, amid growing debate over who could be the prime ministerial candidate of the TVK-Congress alliance in the 2029 Lok Sabha polls.
The meeting comes a day after Minister Rajesh Kumar said at a meeting that both the party’s ministers would quit the state cabinet if the TVK did not accept Gandhi as the PM candidate in 2029.
Notably, a recent opinion poll had placed Prime Minister Narendra Modi first, Rahul Gandhi second and CM Vijay third in the race for the next PM.
