Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu: Tamil Nadu Minister S Rajesh Kumar has said the two Congress ministers in the state Cabinet would resign if coalition ally Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) does not endorse Rahul Gandhi as the party's prime ministerial candidate for the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.
Amid growing advocacy by TVK ministers, MLAs and party members to project Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay as the prime ministerial candidate for the next Lok Sabha election, Kumar said he and fellow Congress minister P Vishwanathan were prepared to resign from their positions if the alliance partner did not support the Congress on the issue.
The Congress was given a berth in the state Cabinet after the party decided to back the Vijay-led TVK in forming the government in May.
Speaking at an event in Kanyakumari on Sunday, Kumar expressed frustration over the growing calls to project Vijay as a prime ministerial candidate and indicated that the Congress would not compromise on its position.
He firmly asserted that Rahul Gandhi was the only candidate the Congress would support for the 2029 Lok Sabha elections and declared that Gandhi would become India's next prime minister.
Though Vishwanathan, who holds the Higher Education portfolio, was not immediately available for comment, Kumar's statement is likely to put further strain on ties between the Congress and the TVK.