Chennai: Last week, a meeting between Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) leader and actor-turned politician Vijay and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s close aide and Congress strategist Praveen Chakravarty caused a flutter in Tamil Nadu politics. Praveen Chakravarty told ThePrint, while he did meet Vijay, it didn’t necessarily involve a political agenda.
“Not all meetings necessarily have a proposal behind them,” he told ThePrint over a call.
“It could have been a casual meeting to have idli, vada and dosa, or even a meeting to talk about movies. A mere meeting is not an offence unless we have made any statements regarding alliance,” Praveen told ThePrint.
The chairman of the All India Professionals’ Congress and head of the Congress data analytics unit met Vijay at his Pattinapakkam office on 5 December. The meeting quickly set off a buzz that Congress could be exploring a possible understanding with Vijay’s TVK or that Praveen himself might be preparing to shift camp.
But Praveen dismissed the speculation and said that he is not joining TVK. “I have zero plans to join TVK,” he told ThePrint.
Praveen Chakravarty entered the party during the Rahul Gandhi–led restructuring phase that sought to bring technocrats, policy specialists and data professionals into mainstream political strategy. As head of the Congress data analytics department, he played a central role in shaping the party’s voter-level data systems and campaign insights. With his proximity to the party’s high command, his name often surfaced as a potential nomination to the Rajya Sabha. However, the proposal never formally materialised.
In Tamil Nadu, sources in TNCC say that Chakravarty was also seen as a strong aspirant for the Myladuthurai Lok Sabha seat in 2024. However, that too did not progress beyond early-stage deliberations, even as his influence within the party’s organisational and strategic structure continued to grow.
The speculation over the Congress exploring a possible alliance with TVK is not new. Ever since Congress leader Rahul Gandhi dialed Vijay after the Karur stampede, there has been a buzz over a possible alliance realignment in the state ahead of the 2026 assembly elections.
Praveen Chakravarty also told ThePrint that the media had been reporting on a possible Congress-TVK alliance for months. “Of course it is the job of the media. We are not commenting on it,” he said.
Asked if the Congress leadership had asked him his reasons for meeting Vijay, he said: “A mere meeting itself does not amount to any offence.”
When asked about the meeting, TNCC Chief Selvaperunthagai claimed that they were unaware of the meeting. “There are only speculations and we really don’t know if such a meeting happened. It’s been months since I spoke to him. Only if the meeting is confirmed, maybe we can ask for a clarification from the leadership,” Selvaperunthagai told ThePrint.
Praveen also denied that his meeting with Vijay had created any discomfort within the DMK-led alliance in the state.
“Did anyone from the Congress make any statement? Did anybody from the alliance parties say anything about the alliance?” he asked. “No. So there is no confusion or tension within the alliance.”
DMK spokesperson T.K.S. Elangovan was confident that the INDIA alliance was intact and that the opposition parties were trying to create friction with speculation over the meeting. “A committee to begin the alliance negotiations will soon be formed by our leader, until then, people will continue to speculate. But, this winning alliance is intact,” Elangovan told ThePrint.
Although there have been differences of opinion among INDIA bloc leaders, political analysts in the state say it might be the strategy of the Congress to negotiate a better share of seats for the 2026 assembly elections.
“It is not just the Congress, even VCK and Left parties have differences of opinion with the DMK government’s policies. But, they all want to be part of this alliance since the winning probability is high in this alliance. Nevertheless, they might use the strategy of talking to multiple people to leverage for more seats in upcoming assembly elections,” K. Chandrasekar, assistant professor and political analyst told ThePrint.
The chatter over the recent speculation gained traction since the meeting came just days after the All India Congress Committee constituted a five-member committee led by Girish Chodankar to hold alliance negotiations with DMK. On 3 December, the committee met DMK president and Chief Minister M. K. Stalin in Chennai to begin formal discussions for the 2026 assembly elections in the state.
A senior leader in DMK confirmed to ThePrint that the DMK leadership would form a committee comprising senior leaders and ministers including Ministers Thangam Thennarasu and K. N. Nehru after 15 December.
Tamil Nadu Congress Committee has shortlisted as many as 125 constituencies where Congress has the potential to win the seat and the manpower to work for the election. TNCC insiders told ThePrint that they are looking for more seats to contest in the upcoming elections than they did in the 2021 assembly election.
In 2021, Congress contested 25 seats and won 18; this time, according to sources, they are looking for a minimum of 39 seats to contest in the 2026 assembly elections.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
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