Tamil Nadu Congress Legislature Party leader Tharahai Cuthbert said on Monday that Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay has backed Rahul Gandhi as the alliance’s Prime Ministerial candidate. Rejecting speculation of a leadership rift between the ruling party and its ally, she said the Chief Minister’s position was clear.
She also said the Congress was growing on its own and was not working in a subordinate role to the TVK. Cuthbert described the recent FIR against Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi in Haldwani, Uttarakhand, as a sign of the BJP’s political anxiety, and said her change of seat in the state Assembly was only a procedural step after she became the Congress floor leader.
Speaking to reporters, Cuthbert said projections in some places of Vijay for the Prime Minister’s post came from the enthusiasm of party workers and did not reflect the official stand of the leadership. “The CM has chosen Rahul Gandhi as the PM candidate. That is how he is proceeding,” she said.
Responding to public remarks by Congress minister Vishwanathan, she said the Congress was expanding independently and did not function in a subservient role to the TVK. She added that the Congress was a democratic and autonomous party.
On the FIR filed against Rahul Gandhi in Haldwani, Cuthbert said the case showed the BJP was worried by the support he was receiving from the public. She said the BJP was intimidated by Gandhi’s wide public acceptance and claimed he would become Prime Minister in 2029.
Cuthbert also said the change in her seating arrangement in the Tamil Nadu Assembly was routine and linked to her new role as Congress floor leader, not to any political move. She was appointed leader of the CLP in the Assembly on August 13, and after taking charge she was given a front-row seat on August 31, a place usually allotted to leaders of opposition parties.
In sum, Cuthbert said Vijay had backed Rahul Gandhi as the alliance’s Prime Ministerial face, denied any strain in ties between the allies, defended the Congress’s independent position, criticised the FIR against Gandhi, and said her new Assembly seat followed normal procedure after her appointment as CLP leader.
– Ends
Published By:
India Today Web Desk
Published On:
Aug 31, 2026 23:59 IST
