Daijiworld Media Network - Chennai

Chennai, Aug 31: Tamil Nadu Tourism Minister S. Rajesh Kumar on Sunday warned that he and his Congress colleague and Higher Education Minister P. Viswanathan would resign from the C. Joseph Vijay-led state Cabinet if the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) continued to project Vijay as a possible Prime Ministerial candidate for the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.

Addressing a Congress party meeting at Marthandam in Kanniyakumari district on Sunday night, Rajesh Kumar said both Congress ministers would immediately quit their posts and withdraw from the Cabinet if the TVK did not accept Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as the Prime Ministerial candidate for the 2029 parliamentary elections.

“If Mr. Rahul Gandhi is not accepted by the TVK as the Prime Minister candidate of the 2029 Parliamentary election, both the Congress Ministers in the Tamil Nadu Government will immediately resign their posts and pull out from the Cabinet,” Rajesh Kumar said.

The remarks come amid growing differences within the ruling alliance over the projection of Chief Minister Vijay as a potential national leader ahead of the 2029 Lok Sabha elections. TVK leaders have recently spoken in favour of Vijay emerging as a Prime Ministerial candidate from Tamil Nadu.

The issue has brought the Congress and TVK's differences over national leadership into sharper focus. Congress minister P. Viswanathan had earlier maintained that Rahul Gandhi was the INDIA bloc's choice for the 2029 Prime Ministerial race and rejected suggestions that Vijay could be projected as an alternative.

Rajesh Kumar's warning indicates that the Congress is prepared to reconsider its participation in the Vijay-led state government if the TVK does not support Rahul Gandhi's candidature for the top post at the national level.

The development comes as political activity begins to intensify in Tamil Nadu ahead of the 2029 Lok Sabha elections, with the leadership question emerging as a potential source of tension within the ruling alliance.