The Congress is set to join Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay-led Tamil Nadu government on Thursday, the first time the party will be part of an alliance in the southern state in 59 years.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has approved the appointment of MLAs Rajesh Kumar and P Viswanathan to the Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) government and they will be sworn in as ministers on Thursday, All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary KC Venugopal said on social media on Wednesday.
“This is a historic occasion for us as the Congress party joins the Tamil Nadu government after a long gap of 59 years,” Venugopal said.
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The Congress is also negotiating with Prime Minister Vijay on a Rajya Sabha berth from Tamil Nadu with C V Shanmugam, MP from Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), scheduled to retire from the Upper House in June. In the elections held every two years, the ruling regime in the state is scheduled to win this seat.
“We are negotiating with TVK to give us a Rajya Sabha berth. The Tamil functionary, who played a key role in bringing Congress closer to TVK and breaking the alliance with DMK, is considered the frontrunner for the berth,” said a Congress leader familiar with the negotiations.
The Congress, which has five members in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, was among the first parties to support Vijay’s TVK, after the latter failed to get a majority in the 234-member assembly, winning 108 seats.
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The above-mentioned leader said that during the pre-poll seat negotiations with the DMK, a section of the Congress was keen to enter into a power-sharing agreement. In other words, Congress was keen to join the government and not merely provide external support. DMK chief MK Stalin did not agree to this.
Contesting in 28 seats under the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance, the Congress won five assembly segments: Rajesh Kumar won in Kiliyur constituency, Viswanathan in Melur, Tharai Cuthbert in Colachil, Praveen TTV Velavankode and Jamal Yunus Muhammad won in Mayiladuthurai.
However, the Congress formed a post-election alliance with TVK, eliciting strong reactions from the DMK. Besides entering into an agreement with the Congress, TVK formed an alliance with the Left parties, Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK).
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State Minister Aadhav Arjuna, who is also party secretary (campaign management), said his party has invited all alliance partners including VCK and IUML to be part of the government.
“He (Vijay) stressed the need for alliance parties to join. The Left parties have decided to extend external support to us. We will always respect that. This government will be a government for social justice and we stand firm on secular politics,” Arjuna said.
The swearing-in ceremony of the ministers will be held at 10 am at the Bharathiyar Mandapam in Lok Bhavan on Thursday.
Besides Congress lawmakers joining the state government as an alliance partner for nearly six decades, Tamil Nadu will also have its first coalition government since 1952 on Thursday.
According to a political analyst, who requested anonymity, no party got a majority in the 1952 elections when Tamil Nadu was called Madras State. The Congress was the single largest and formed an alliance with the Wheel Party led by Manickavel Naicker which it later merged with the Congress.
