Vijay-led alliance gets a new name ahead of bypolls
Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam and its political allies have formally given their coalition a new identity, naming it the Secular Social Justice Victory Alliance, or SSJVA.
The decision was announced after a high-level meeting of alliance leaders near Chennai. Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president B Manickam Tagore said the coalition would work together and contest the upcoming bypolls in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
Tagore said the alliance had been built around a common political foundation and that candidates for the October 6 bypolls were expected to be announced shortly.
Health minister KG Arunraj said the name had been unanimously accepted by the participating parties and described the formation as the beginning of a new political alliance.
Leaders from the Congress, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Indian Union Muslim League attended the discussions.
The Communist Party of India and Communist Party of India (Marxist), which are extending outside support to the TVK government, have indicated that they will remain outside the formal alliance.
The coalition follows TVK’s performance in the April 23 Assembly election, after which the party formed a post-poll arrangement with the Congress, IUML and VCK. MDMK subsequently joined the ruling grouping.
VCK and IUML each have one minister in the state government, while the Congress has two representatives in the council of ministers.
The alliance meeting also comes amid differences over the Congress’s preferred candidate for prime minister in the 2029 Lok Sabha election. Congress leaders in Tamil Nadu had previously indicated that their ministers could consider resigning if the TVK leadership refused to support Rahul Gandhi.
At the same time, TVK has continued to position Vijay as a potential national political leader, setting the stage for further negotiations between the coalition partners.