Former Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president Selvaperunthagai has questioned why the Congress should remain in an alliance with parties that do not accept Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate, as reported in Dinamani.
The remarks come amid an ongoing debate over who could be projected as the prime ministerial candidate in the 2029 Lok Sabha election. While TVK functionaries have maintained that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay should be the prime ministerial candidate, Congress leaders have continued to back Rahul Gandhi.
Speaking to reporters in Chennai on Wednesday, 16 September 2026, Selvaperunthagai said that alliance partners must accept Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate if the Congress is to remain part of the alliance.
“If Rahul Gandhi is the Prime Minister, then the alliance parties should agree that he is the Prime Minister. If not, why should we be in this alliance? Let us take a pledge that Rahul Gandhi is the Prime Minister. It would be honest to form an alliance with those who sincerely accept him as the Prime Minister,” he said.
The remarks come days after the Congress, VCK, IUML and MDMK, which have extended support to the TVK government, came together to form the ‘Secular Social Justice Victory Alliance’ under the leadership of TVK.
The formation of the alliance had triggered discussion over its position on the prime ministerial candidate for the 2029 Lok Sabha election.
Last week, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president Manickam Tagore had said that Rahul Gandhi remained the Congress’s choice for the post.
“For the Tamil Nadu Congress, Rahul Gandhi is the prime ministerial candidate of the INDIA alliance. Everyone will agree to that. When the time comes, everyone will openly announce it,” Tagore had said.
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