A political disagreement that could have been dismissed as premature 2029 speculation has now turned into a direct warning from the Congress to its ruling ally in Tamil Nadu. State Tourism Minister S Rajesh Kumar has said the two Congress ministers in the C Joseph Vijay-led government will resign if the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) does not accept Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate for the 2029 Lok Sabha election.
What began as praise for the actor-turned-politician’s performance as chief minister is increasingly being framed by his party colleagues as a possible bid for the country’s top political office.
Rajesh Kumar was unequivocal at a Congress event in Kanniyakumari. “Rahul Gandhi will be the prime ministerial candidate for
the 2029 parliamentary election. He will become the next PM. If at all TVK refuses to accept this, the two Congress ministers will walk out of the cabinet,” he said.
He also made clear that he was willing to give up his ministerial position over the issue. “For us, party is above all other considerations. Our cadres want to see Rahul Gandhi as PM,” Kumar said.
The warning is significant because Congress’s five MLAs were crucial to Vijay’s government formation after the 2026 Assembly election threw up a fractured mandate. In May, Congress returned to the Tamil Nadu Cabinet after nearly six decades, with Rajesh Kumar and P Viswanathan getting ministerial berths.
How Did Vijay’s PM Pitch Begin?
TVK ministers have increasingly spoken about Vijay’s potential beyond Tamil Nadu. Human Resources Management Minister D Sarathkumar went the furthest in the Assembly on August 18, telling Vijay, “Our leader is the next Indian PM. You are the next PM.”
Public Works Minister Aadhav Arjuna subsequently argued that India’s political landscape should change so that a Prime Minister could emerge from the South, including Tamil Nadu. His remarks were made during a debate around delimitation and the political representation of southern states.
Senior TVK leader KA Sengottaiyan has also claimed that people in northern India are looking towards Vijay as a potential national leader. “People from north Indian states are also looking forward to our leader Vijay,” he said.
Congress Draws A Red Line
For Congress, Rahul Gandhi remains the party’s central national face and its preferred candidate for the top post if the opposition alliance wins in 2029.
Congress’s Higher Education Minister P Viswanathan had already made the party’s position clear before Rajesh Kumar’s latest warning. “Rahul Gandhi is the sole prime ministerial candidate of the Indian National Congress. There will be no change in our stand,” he said.
Congress MP P Jothimani has similarly said that neither the Congress nor the INDIA bloc would accept anyone other than Rahul Gandhi as its prime ministerial candidate.
The state Congress has also reacted sharply to the Vijay-for-PM campaign. Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president Manickam Tagore accused TVK leaders of continuing to operate with a “fan club mindset”, a pointed reference to Vijay’s enormous popularity among his former film fans and supporters.
Congress MP Karti Chidambaram, meanwhile, has sought to inject a dose of political realism into the debate, pointing out that becoming Prime Minister ultimately depends on the numbers needed to command a majority in the Lok Sabha.
Vijay has only just begun his political journey. TVK was launched in 2024 and won 108 seats in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly in its first election, subsequently forming the government with support from Congress and other parties. This victory itself has transformed Vijay from a political newcomer into a chief minister with a potentially significant national profile.
But the 2029 Lok Sabha election is still nearly three years away. There is also a major distinction between being a popular regional leader and being able to lead an alliance to the 272 seats required for a majority in the 543-member Lok Sabha. Even Aadhav Arjuna, while advocating a Prime Minister from the South, acknowledged that the ultimate question would be numbers.
The irony is that Vijay and Rahul Gandhi had appeared politically close only months ago. After the 2026 election, Vijay thanked Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and referred to Rahul Gandhi as his “brother” while acknowledging Congress support for his government.
For now, neither side needs to make a formal decision about the 2029 PM candidate. But the battle over who gets to occupy that political space has already begun.
In Tamil Nadu, the first fault line is emerging inside a government that was itself built on an alliance between Vijay’s fledgling party and a Congress that has now made it clear: support for the state government cannot come at the cost of Rahul Gandhi’s national ambitions.
