Tamil Nadu’s major political disruptor and its next chief minister C Joseph Vijay, known by the alias Vijay, was keen to join the Congress in 2009, but general secretary Rahul Gandhi’s suggestion that he prove himself by contesting the Youth Congress elections brought him back to Chennai with his political aspirations on the back burner. HT learned that Vijay and his father SA Chandrasekhar came to Delhi accompanied by Congress national secretary Gopinath Palaniappan.
“I can’t talk about it,” said Palaniappan, who was national secretary of the National Congress Students Union of India (NSUI) at the time, when contacted by Hizb ut-Tahrir. The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) had just been voted back to power with Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister and Gandhi was pressured to take on a greater role in the government. However, he seemed hesitant; He was happy with the role he played – revamping the student wings of Congress, the youth. Congress and NSUI.
A person familiar with the details told HT that Vijay’s offer to Gandhi was merely to become a member of the AICC. “He didn’t want a ticket or anything else. He just wanted to be a member of the Congress party,” this leader said, on condition of anonymity. He added that Vijay’s father leaned more towards the Congress ideology and played a role in the decision. 17 years later, on counting day Monday, as TVK was trying to make up its numbers by inches towards the halfway mark of 118, Chandrasekhar’s message to the Congress was: “Alliance with Vijay, will give you the power you have lost.”
Vijay’s simple request to join the Congress took a different turn when he had this secret meeting with Gandhi in 2009. Gandhi’s zeal to recruit great talent for the student bodies did not appeal to Vijay as much. Some feel that even then, the Congress’s ally, the DMK, did not encourage this induction. So, instead of Congress signing up a major movie star with millions of fans, the two went their separate ways. Vijay was only 34 years old, but he still managed to make his 50th film, which was very successful. However, Gandhi and Vijay remained in touch, according to one of Gandhi’s aides.
“It is good for Vijay that he did not join us in 2009. He would have been lost in the party now instead of being what he is now,” this aide added.
On Thursday, Congresswoman Ragini Nayak, who had interacted with Vijay in 2009, retweeted a picture from that time, which also featured Congress MP Hippy Eden who was heading NSUI and Gopinath Palaniappan.
“Those enthusiasts who are lamenting how suddenly an alliance between Congress and Vijay could happen… should take a close look at this picture. This is a 12-13 year old picture in which Vijay Thalapathy is standing along with national office bearers of NSUI!”
HT reached out to Congress MP Pawan Khera for comment on what happened, but did not get any comment till the time of going to press.
