Chennai: Friction within the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK)-led alliance has widened, with Communist parties joining the Congress in raising public objections that TVK leaders say are creating confusion.
TVK governs Tamil Nadu under Chief Minister Vijay without a clear Assembly majority, relying on support from the Congress, CPI, CPM, VCK and the Indian Union Muslim League. Among these allies, all except the two Communist parties hold positions in the Cabinet.
The latest strain follows TVK ministers, MLAs and functionaries referring to Vijay as a “future Prime Minister”. With the Congress viewing Rahul Gandhi as its prime ministerial face, Congress leaders objected to the remarks. Congress minister Rajeshkumar said Congress ministers would resign if TVK did not accept Rahul as the prime ministerial candidate, and state Congress chief Manickam Tagore later met Vijay to discuss the issue.
As the Congress-TVK disagreement remained unresolved, CPI state secretary Veerappandian and CPM state secretary Shanmugam told reporters in Chennai that their parties would support the government only if it delivered good governance and schemes, and would oppose it otherwise. They also said the Chief Minister should lead officials, alleging that “everything is reversed” in the current setup.
Responding, TVK’s Public Welfare Minister Arunraj said the previous DMK government was run by officials, but claimed that was not the case now. He said an incident near Dindigul involving the collection of details of Communist-linked persons was accidental and that departmental action had been initiated against those responsible, adding that it was unfair to generalise based on isolated mistakes.
