Chennai: The Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) has decided to allot the vacant Rajya Sabha seat from Tamil Nadu to the Congress. The announcement was made by TVK president and Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay on Wednesday.
The decision comes shortly after senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram met Vijay on Tuesday, amid ongoing discussions over the Rajya Sabha by-election. Party sources said Chidambaram’s meeting was aimed at conveying the Congress leadership’s interest in the Rajya Sabha seat.
After allocating two ministerial berths to the Congress, the TVK’s decision on the Rajya Sabha seat is seen as another step towards strengthening the alliance. The seat allocation further strengthens the position of Congress in the state.
The party had secured one Rajya Sabha seat from its earlier alliance with the DMK. With this new seat, Congress is set to have two ministers and two Rajya Sabha MPs in the state, marking a gain for a party that has struggled electorally in Tamil Nadu in the recent years.
The TVK, with 107 MLAs and the backing of alliance partners, holds a comfortable majority to win the seat on its own. While it could have been TVK’s first Rajya Sabha seat if the party chose to contest the bypolls, Vijay chose to reinforce alliance unity and gain party support.
The Rajya Sabha bypoll is being held because of the resignation of AIADMK leader C. V. Shanmugam, who quit the Upper House after winning from Mailam in the recent assembly elections. The nominations for the seat began on 1 June, with scrutiny on 9 June, withdrawal by 11 June, and polling and results scheduled for 18 June.
Political analysts said Vijay’s decision could be an attempt to strengthen the alliance against DMK. “While the Congress wants to further expand its political landscape in Tamil Nadu, TVK would reward the Congress for the support. Vijay wants to ensure that he conveys offering support to the Congress,” said political analyst Ramu Manivannan.
While Congress sources said that All India Professionals’ Congress chairperson Praveen Chakravarty is expected to be the candidate for Rajya Sabha, the party is yet to give any official confirmation.
Congress Tamil Nadu in-charge Girish Chodankar told IANS, “We want to further strengthen our Rajya Sabha tally, and so we requested the Chief Minister that this Rajya Sabha seat be allocated to the Congress party.”
Praveen Chakravarty was seen as an advocate for the Congress-TVK alliance and had met Vijay before the assembly elections as well.
(Edited by Shubhanker Tripathi)