TN minister warns Cong will exit cabinet if TVK doesn't back Rahul as PM face for 2029 polls

Amid TVK’s attempts to project Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay as the prospective prime ministerial candidate for the 2029 Lok Sabha elections, Congress leader and Tamil Nadu Minister, S Rajesh, has given an ultimatum to the ruling party.

Speaking at an event on Saturday (August 29), he warned that Congress ministers will resign from the state cabinet if the ruling party doesn’t recognise Rahul Gandhi as the Opposition’s prime ministerial candidate in the next Lok Sabha polls.

Kumar was speaking at the assumption-of-office ceremony of George Robinson, the newly appointed president of the Kanyakumari West District Congress Committee.

Also Read: Congress, Left slam DMK over allegations of trying to bribe TVK MLAs

Vijay as PM face?

The campaign projecting Vijay as the prime ministerial candidate for the 2029 polls, gathered pace after state PWD Minister Aadhav Arjuna said the country’s highest political office should be held by a leader from Tamil Nadu. It later drew attention beyond the state when a survey by a private media outlet placed Vijay third among the country’s preferred choices for prime minister. He ranked behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.

Also Read: Tamil Nadu delimitation: Political fault lines deepen as TVK, DMK trade charges

The TVK, which was recently formed under the leadership Vijay, secured 108 seats in the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. The result ended the decades-long dominance of the DMK and AIADMK in the State.

The backdrop

After the election, the TVK formed the government with backing from the VCK, IUML, Congress, CPI and CPI(M). The Congress then ended its long-standing alliance with the DMK and formally conveyed its support for the TVK at the party headquarters in Chennai.

Also Read: ‘Political poaching not a new trend in TN’; will TVK resist or fall prey?

The support of Congress’s five MLAs remains necessary for the TVK to retain a majority in the State Assembly. Their backing therefore continues to be important to the government’s position in the House.

In return for the Congress support, the TVK has allocated two ministerial berths to Congress. Rajesh Kumar is among those given a place in the State Cabinet, while P Viswanathan holds the higher education portfolio.