Chennai, September 9
Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam-led ruling alliance has been named the "Secular Social Justice Victory Alliance", following the second alliance coordination meeting held at the party headquarters in Panaiyur, Chennai, on Wednesday.
The decision was taken at the crucial coordination meeting chaired by TVK founder and Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay, which was attended by leaders of key alliance partners, including Congress, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) and Indian Union Muslim League (IUML).
Visuals from the meeting showed TVK chief Vijay wearing a golden kurta and veshti and giving a thumbs-up, with the logos of the alliance partners displayed on a screen behind him.
The meeting was held to formalise the structure and functioning of the ruling alliance and discussed key issues, including the alliance's official name, a Common Minimum Programme and the formation of a steering committee.
However, leaders of the Left parties were notably absent from the meeting. Both the Communist Party of India (CPI) and Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M) skipped the meeting at the TVK headquarters in Panaiyur.
The Left parties had earlier indicated that they would maintain their independent position while extending issue-based support to the TVK government.
CPI(M) state secretary P Shanmugam had said that the party's support to the government was intended to keep it stable and that it did not want to join a formal alliance structure without cabinet berths.
The meeting also comes amid differences within the ruling bloc over the alliance's political positioning ahead of the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.
Tensions had emerged between TVK and Congress over the Prime Ministerial candidate, while TVK PWD Minister Aadhav Arjuna had earlier said that the country's top constitutional office should be held by a leader from Tamil Nadu.
Tamil Nadu Tourism Minister S Rajesh Kumar had also said that Congress ministers would resign if TVK did not support Rahul Gandhi as the Prime Ministerial candidate for the 2029 Lok Sabha elections. Tamil Nadu Minister Rajmohan later clarified that the statement was not an official announcement but was made "out of affection".
— ANI
Leave a comment