'They are from his film fan base': Cong MLA brushes aside TVK’s 'Vijay for PM' pitch

NEW DELHI: Tamil Nadu Congress MLA Tharahai Cuthbert on Wednesday dismissed ally TVK’s projection of its leader, C Joseph Vijay, as the prime ministerial candidate for the 2029 Lok Sabha elections, saying TVK leaders were making the claim as “fans” of the chief minister, a reference to Vijay’s past as an actor.“They are TVK MLAs, they are all still in the fan basis. They have come from a fan--film industries as a fan basis. Definitely, they will be saying that,” Cuthbert told reporters in Chennai.She added that, politically, the leaders had taken a “stern decision” that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi would be the candidate for the prime minister’s post in 2029.Cuthbert’s remarks come amid growing differences over the political positioning of the two parties, with TVK leaders repeatedly projecting Vijay as a possible national leader.TVK leader and Tamil Nadu minister Aadhav Arjuna had earlier asserted that the country’s top constitutional office should be held by a leader from Tamil Nadu.Responding to the remarks by TVK leaders, Congress leader and state Tourism Minister S Rajesh Kumar warned that the two Congress ministers in the TVK-led Tamil Nadu government would resign if the Vijay-led party did not accept Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate. The Congress ended its long-standing alliance with the DMK following the Tamil Nadu assembly elections in April and extended support to TVK, which emerged as the single-largest party but fell short of the majority mark. The Congress backed TVK along with the VCK, IUML, CPI and CPI(M), with the stated condition that “communal forces” be kept out of the government.Vijay launched TVK in February 2024, becoming the latest Tamil film star to enter state politics.The Congress last led a government at the Centre from 2004 to 2014. Karan Manral is a journalist at the Times of India. He covers politics, social issues, and international affairs, exploring stories that affect people’s everyday lives. He also writes explainers to make these stories easier for readers to follow.