Chennai: A day after Tamil Nadu tourism minister R Rajesh Kumar warned that Congress would pull its two ministers out of the state cabinet if TVK failed to accept Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate for the 2029 Lok Sabha election, the ruling party chose not to respond publicly. Meanwhile, TNCC president Manickam Tagore and Congress MP Praveen Chakravarthy separately met chief minister C Joseph Vijay on Monday. TVK’s silence and the visit of Congress leaders signalled an effort by both sides to defuse the situation.Manickam Tagore said in an X post that not all surveys reflect public sentiment, a reference to the survey by a media house that said Vijay was third most popular PM candidate in the country next to PM Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi. “Sometimes, numbers shown as voice of people are weapons intended to split people,’’ he said. Narrating a short story titled ‘a fox’s fake survey,’ Tagore said there are attempts to drive wedge between two friends through ‘fabricated numbers.’Speaking at a public meeting in Kanyakumari on Sunday, Rajesh Kumar said Rahul Gandhi would be Congress’s prime ministerial candidate in 2029. He said the two Congress ministers in Tamil Nadu cabinet would quit if TVK refused to accept Rahul as PM candidate. The statement was a result of TVK ministers projecting Vijay as prospective PM candidate.On Monday, MDMK general secretary Vaiko joined the debate, backing Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate and urging Vijay to restrain TVK ministers.“Congress party leads INDIA bloc at the national level. Therefore, Rahul Gandhi is the only viable PM candidate from the alliance. There is simply no alternative,’’ he told reporters in Tirunelveli. Vaiko said Vijay would not have such aspirations and that it was the TVK ministers who were making remarks projecting Vijay as the PM candidate.“Ministers should not speak haphazardly about these matters. CM must direct the ministers to avoid such statements in the future,” said Vaiko.Meanwhile, Congress MLA Tharahai Cuthbert was allotted front row among leaders of opposition parties triggering speculation it was a fallout of Rajesh Kumar’s speech. However, Tagore clarified in a statement that it was a routine administrative exercise after her election as the party’s legislative leader. Speaker J C D Prabhakar also clarified that Cuthbert was allotted the seat because of her designation as floor leader.
