Key Tamil Nadu cabinet ministers have recently come out and pitched Chief Minister Vijay’s name for the Prime Minister berth, a chorus which has received mixed reactions. Congress MP & Tamil Nadu state chief of the party has reacted sharply to the proposals made by the TVK leaders.
Responding to the “Vijay-for-PM” calls, Manickam Tagore accused the TVK leaders of “being in fan-club mode.” He added, “many people in the TVK are still operating in fan club mode, treating Vijay more like a superstar than a political leader.” He also said that this mindset cannot be changed by the Congress.
Tagore says the Congress party is focused on what it sees as the BJP’s attempts to weaken democracy and divide the Opposition. He specifically mentioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. He said that the INDIA bloc is also fighting against a possible delimitation excercise that could benefit the BJP politically, particularly by changing the balance of representation between states.
He implied that the Congress and TVK are currently in different “modes”. He pointed out that TVK is focused on Vijay and Tamil Nadu politics, while Congress is looking at the broader national Opposition battle. He also left the door open for TVK’s entry into the INDIA alliance, saying that if TVK wins an MP seat, it could become part of the INDIA bloc. His technical argument is that TVK currently has no MPs, so it cannot formally be part of the alliance.