TVK alliance meeting charts three-point roadmap
In a major move to strengthen political ties, a crucial TVK alliance meeting on Wednesday chalked out a three-stage framework, including the constitution of a dedicated coordination committee in the future.
The ruling TVK on Wednesday held its first meeting with alliance partners - the Congress, VCK and IUML - which are part of the coalition Government.
The meeting, chaired by Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam founder and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay, was attended by Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president and MP B Manickam Tagore, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan, MDMK leader Vaiko, IUML president KM Kader Mohideen, and senior TVK party functionaries and ministers.
However, leaders of the Left parties skipped the meeting, citing that they were providing only outside support to the Government. Speaking to reporters soon after the meeting, Tamil Nadu Congress chief Manickam Tagore said that to propel the alliance forward, party leaders had deliberated extensively on three core agendas: establishing a dedicated coordination committee, drafting a common minimum agenda, and finalising an official name for the coalition. Stating that all participating leaders had actively exchanged views during the consultation meeting, he said, “The final decision on all three agendas will be taken in the next meeting, which is scheduled to be held very shortly.”
He said the coalition additionally classified its partners into a three-tier system - external support, governance participants, and friendly allies.
To a question on whether TVK would support the INDIA bloc, since its allies, including Congress, were part of it, Manickam Tagore said membership and active participation in the national INDIA alliance remained tied to parliamentary representation. “We are talking only about Tamil Nadu politics at this point in time,” he said.
Another senior Congress leader and MP, S Jothimani, said, “Since TVK and its partners have the same ideology, especially concerning secularism, the alliance is very strong. TVK also listened to all our ideas during the meeting.”
In a social media post, the TVK said, “A discussion attended by the leaders of allied parties and held under the leadership of the CM took place today at Kovalam.” State-level office-bearers, ministers, and Members of Parliament and the Legislative Assembly belonging to the alliance parties participated and graced the occasion, it added.
