Coffee with Rahul, metro ride with PM Modi: CM Vijay's weekend balancing act

Lunch with Rahul Gandhi on Saturday, a Metro ride with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday. C Joseph Vijay's engagements over the weekend offered a snapshot of the political balancing act facing Tamil Nadu's new Chief Minister.

In Short

• Vijay met PM Modi and Rahul Gandhi on consecutive days, showing political balance
• Vijay leads coalition with Congress and smaller parties after winning 2026 elections
• He stresses cooperative federalism despite ideological differences with Centre

Five months into his tenure as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, C Joseph Vijay is navigating two very different political relationships. While his government rests on an alliance with the Congress, his dealings with the BJP-led Centre suggest he is keen to keep ideological differences from coming in the way of governance.

That balancing act was on display over the weekend, when Vijay met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Chennai on Saturday and welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the state a day later.

On Sunday, the Chief Minister welcomed PM Narendra Modi at the airport and accompanied him during the inauguration of a stretch of Chennai Metro’s Phase II. They not only inaugurated the project together but also rode the Metro together, in what was their first meeting in Tamil Nadu since the historic election results in May this year.

But the more telling moment came during Vijay’s speech at the inauguration. He pulled out a list of demands for PM Modi and read them out in public. The episode offered a glimpse of how Vijay is approaching his relationship with the BJP-led Centre: using direct engagement to push the state’s demands despite ideological differences.

A day earlier, Vijay met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who considers PM Modi his biggest adversary, in Chennai. Rahul was in the city for the ‘Chhatron ki Goonj’ event, and the two leaders met for nearly an hour. They discussed several political issues, according to party sources.

Vijay and Rahul had lunch at the former’s residence before chatting over coffee and tiramisu at a nearby cafe. The meeting came months after TVK formed a formal alliance with Congress and smaller parties.

CONGRESS ALLIANCE, CENTRE OUTREACH

Vijay’s weekend moves reflect a balancing act that has been taking shape since he came to power. He has had to walk a political tightrope ever since he came to power in a surprise electoral victory in May.

With his party winning 108 of the 234 seats in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, TVK fell short of a majority by 10 seats. He then formed a broad coalition with Congress and smaller parties that were once aligned with the DMK.

The bonhomie between Rahul and Vijay was on display during the swearing-in ceremony on May 10, with both sharing the stage and Vijay calling Rahul “his brother”.

A day later, he thanked PM Modi for his congratulatory message and expressed hope that the Centre would continue supporting Tamil Nadu’s development efforts.

On May 27, Vijay made his maiden visit to New Delhi as Chief Minister, where he met Modi for nearly 30 minutes. He brought a large delegation and also met Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to discuss the state’s finances.

The outreach suggested that Vijay intended to keep the channels of communication with the Union government open, even as his party maintained its ideological distance from the BJP.

The approach was underlined in June, when he said in the Assembly: “The TVK is ideologically diagonally opposite to the party (BJP) ruling the Centre. Yet, we will not indulge in blind confrontation on every issue, as the growth of Tamil Nadu is our foremost objective.”

DIALOGUE DESPITE IDEOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES

Centre-state relations have been complicated under the Modi government, with several Opposition-ruled states often at loggerheads with the Centre. Vijay has sought a more conciliatory path, stressing the need for cooperative federalism while pursuing Tamil Nadu’s interests.

“A developed India can be built only through empowered States, cooperative federalism, and inclusive development,” he said at the NITI Aayog meeting in New Delhi on June 11.

A day before the meeting, he also met Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi at 10 Janpath, thanking the family for Congress’s support.

Vijay also used the Southern Council meeting in August to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah and discuss Tamil Nadu’s demands. The meeting reinforced his willingness to engage with the Centre even as differences persist over issues such as NEET, the playing of the full version of Vande Mataram and the three-language formula.

Meeting Union ministers is not, by itself, a departure from his predecessor’s approach. Centre-state engagement is a routine part of governance, regardless of which parties are in power. What Vijay has sought to emphasise is his willingness to press the state’s demands without making every disagreement a confrontation.

The weekend, then, offered a snapshot of Vijay’s emerging political approach: preserve the Congress alliance that underpins his government while engaging the BJP-led Centre on matters crucial to Tamil Nadu.

- Ends