The Tamil Nadu Congress on Saturday confirmed that it would attend the second alliance meeting convened by the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) on September 9, even as the Left parties are likely to stay away amid differences over the alliance's functioning and the projection of TVK chief C Joseph Vijay as a possible prime ministerial candidate.
Tamil Nadu Congress president Manickam Tagore said TVK leaders Aadhav Arjuna and N Anand met him and Congress leader Praveen Chakravarty at Sathyamoorthy Bhavan here and invited the party to the meeting scheduled for September 9.
"TVK ministers came and met us at our party state headquarters and asked Tamil Nadu Congress to attend the meeting of TVK alliance party leaders on September 9 at 4 PM. Our Congress will attend the second TVK alliance meeting," Tagore said at a press conference.
He also reiterated that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi would be the party's prime ministerial candidate for the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.
"I am again saying clearly that in the 2029 Parliament election, our leader Rahul Gandhi will be the PM candidate," Tagore said, adding that attempts to create differences within the alliance would not succeed.
His remarks come amid growing discussion over the alliance's choice of a prime ministerial candidate after some TVK leaders projected Vijay for the top post in 2029.
Tamil Nadu Minister Rajmohan had recently said that remarks projecting Vijay as prime minister were made out of "affection" and did not constitute an official announcement.
Meanwhile, TVK ministers continued their outreach to alliance partners ahead of the September 9 meeting. Aadhav Arjuna, N Anand, CTR Nirmal Kumar and A Rajmohan met the state secretaries of the CPI and CPI(M) and MDMK general secretary Vaiko on Friday.
The Left parties, however, are likely to skip the September 9 meeting as well. They had stayed away from the first coordination meeting of the alliance parties held on July 1.
CPI state secretary M Veerapandian said the Left parties had decided not to join the TVK government, despite the ministerial team again raising the issue during its meeting with them.
"We have taken a decision not to become part of the government. Even on Friday, a similar proposal (to join the government) was mooted," Veerapandian said.
He said the political views conveyed by Chief Minister Vijay through the ministers would be discussed at a meeting of the Left parties.
"We have extended support to the TVK government only to prevent President's rule in the state," Veerapandian said.
CPI(M) state secretary P Shanmugam described the meeting with the TVK ministers as a courtesy call. He said the ministers apologised over a recent circular issued by Chief Secretary M Sai Kumar asking officials to take steps to prevent students and youth from participating in protests.
The ministers also apologised over a circular issued by the Gujiliyamparai tahsildar seeking details of Left party members in his jurisdiction, Shanmugam said.
"We will discuss the issues there," he added, referring to the Left parties' meeting on Saturday.
MDMK general secretary Vaiko, meanwhile, praised the TVK government's performance during its first four months in office and particularly appreciated Vijay's speeches in the Assembly.
TVK ministers also reached out to the Indian Union Muslim League. Nirmal Kumar spoke to IUML leader Kader Mohideen over the phone and invited him to the September 9 meeting.
The outreach comes after 117 days of the TVK government and amid unease among some alliance partners over the projection of Vijay as a potential prime ministerial candidate and the government's handling of student protests.
Congress leader P Viswanathan has also asserted that Rahul Gandhi would be the party's 2029 prime ministerial candidate.
"We are sure that Rahul Gandhi will be the Prime Ministerial candidate. There is no room for other questions," he said, while maintaining that there was no serious issue between the TVK and Congress alliance.
(With inputs from ANI and ENS)
