Congress is going to create a new history in South India especially Tamil Nadu. Congress is going to join the Tamil Nadu government led by Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay today on Thursday. In such a situation, this is the first time in 59 years that the party will be part of a coalition government in this southern state. Earlier, Vijay had achieved a historic victory and ended the decades-old stranglehold of DMK-AIADMK on power here.
All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary KC Venugopal said on social media on Wednesday that party chief Mallikarjun Kharge has given approval to MLAs Rajesh Kumar and P. Vishwanathan to join the ‘Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam’ (TVK) government. Both the MLAs will take oath as ministers on Thursday.
Venugopal said on this decision, “This is a historic occasion for us, because after a long gap of 59 years, Congress is joining the Tamil Nadu cabinet.”
Talks continue with TVK for Rajya Sabha seat
Not only this, Congress is also in talks with Chief Minister Vijay for a Rajya Sabha seat from Tamil Nadu. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) MP CV Shanmugam is going to retire from the Upper House (Rajya Sabha) in June. In this biennial election, the ruling party of the state is considered certain to win this seat.
A Congress leader associated with the matter said, “We are in talks with TVK so that we can get this Rajya Sabha seat. A Tamil Nadu functionary, who played an important role in bringing Congress closer to TVK and breaking the old alliance with DMK, is considered to be the frontrunner for this seat.”
Congress, which has 5 MLAs in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, is one of the parties which is supporting Vijay’s TVK party. This support was given by Congress when TVK was a few seats short of the majority mark in the 234-member assembly and had won 108 seats.
Congress signed the agreement immediately after the elections
This leader says that during the talks regarding seat sharing with DMK before the elections, a faction of the Congress was very interested in a power-sharing agreement. In other words, Congress wanted to join the government instead of just supporting it from outside. However, DMK chief MK Stalin did not agree to this.
In the elections, Congress got 28 seats to contest on behalf of DMK led ‘Secular Progressive Alliance’ in which it won 5 seats. Rajesh Kumar from Kiliyur seat, Vishwanathan from Melur, Tharahai Cuthbert from Colachel, Praveen T.T. He won from Vilavancode and Jamal Yunus Mohammed won from Mayiladuthurai seat. However, after the elections, Congress soon decided to exit the alliance and formed an alliance with TVK.
Will work on secular policy: Minister Arjun
However, DMK got angry after leaving Congress. Strong reactions came from his side. Along with striking a deal with the Congress, the TVK also formed an alliance with the Left parties, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and managed to form the government.
Minister of State Aadhav Arjun, who is also the party’s secretary (election campaign management), said his party has invited all alliance partners, including VCK and IUML, to be part of the cabinet. Arjun had said, “He (CM Vijay) has emphasized that the coalition parties should join it. The Left parties have decided to support us from outside. We will always respect it. This government will be a government that works for social justice and we are fully committed to working on our secular policy.”
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