Amid 2029 PM nominee chorus, Tamil Nadu CM Vijay to chair TVK-alliance meet on September 9 to discuss CMP

Chennai: Amid rumblings between the TVK and Congress over the 2029 Prime Ministerial candidate, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay will chair a meeting of alliance partners on September 9 to discuss drafting a Common Minimum Programme (CMP) and a name for the political formation.

Representatives from the Congress, VCK, IUML — who are part of the four-month-old government — and MDMK will attend the second such meeting since they exited the DMK alliance and extended their support to Vijay.

Left parties (CPI and CPI-M), who have refused to join the government, will not be part of the meeting as they maintain that their support to the TVK was solely intended to prevent President's Rule from being enforced in Tamil Nadu.

Senior ministers N Anand, Aadhav Arjuna, and Dr K G Arunraj personally met leaders of the Congress, VCK, IUML, and MDMK to extend invitations for the gathering.

Following Wednesday's meeting, the Chief Minister is expected to fly to London the next day for his first overseas visit to secure investments for Tamil Nadu.

The first meeting of alliance parties was held on June 30 at a luxury five-star property on the East Coast Road (ECR), during which they agreed to formalise the political arrangement and give the formation a distinct name.

“Nothing much progressed after the first meeting. We will decide on several things during Wednesday’s meeting. The foremost is to constitute a coordination committee and draft the CMP. We will also decide a name for the formation,” a source in the TVK told DH .

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The alliance’s name is likely to incorporate terms like social justice and secularism, which the TVK emphasises as cornerstones of its administration.

Another source said the need for a coordination committee is being felt due to occasional contradictory stances taken by alliance partners on key issues, and the proposed panel is expected to meet regularly to streamline strategy.

“We want this alliance to continue and send a message that we are the real secular formation in Tamil Nadu. CM Vijay will also talk about his vision for the state, how alliance parties must stay united, and the core contents of the CMP,” another source said.

The meeting assumes major significance in the wake of TVK ministers and MLAs pitching Vijay as the Prime Ministerial candidate for the 2029 Lok Sabha polls—much to the discomfiture of the Congress, whose five MLAs are critical to the government’s legislative majority.

While the TVK maintains that the issue has not officially come up for discussion, Tamil Nadu Congress Chief Manickam Tagore reiterated on Saturday that Rahul Gandhi remains his party’s choice for PM.

The growing chorus within the TVK has unsettled Congress leaders, who note that their support for Vijay’s government was predicated on the understanding that the ruling party would back Rahul Gandhi nationally.