Beyond Sonia Gandhi’s book launch: Why CM Vijay’s Delhi visit on Monday will be a stress test for TVK-Congress ties

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay will travel to New Delhi on Monday for the launch of Sonia Gandhi’s memoir, scheduled to be held at ITC Maurya.

The formal invitation from the Congress party for the November 16 programme assumes political significance against the backdrop of the evolving TVK-Congress relationship, which is being tested by the political arithmetic in Tamil Nadu and the contentious Mekedatu dispute with Karnataka.

Vijay will fly to Delhi on Monday following a personal invitation from Sonia Gandhi, while Rahul Gandhi reportedly telephoned him to extend the invitation.

The launch of Belonging: A Journey of Love will provide another opportunity for the leaders to interact, months after Rahul Gandhi called on Vijay at his Chennai residence for coffee when he came down to participate in Chhatron Ki Goonj.

Earlier, Vijay met Sonia and Rahul Gandhi in June—almost a month after he took charge as chief minister.

The political significance of the Monday meeting in Delhi lies in the transformation of the relationship between Vijay’s TVK and the Congress.

According to sources, Vijay will be the only CM from another party to attend the book launch, as the others will all be Congress chief ministers. They added that Telangana CM Revanth Reddy, Kerala CM V.D. Satheesan, and Karnataka CM D.K. Shivakumar will also be present alongside senior Congress leaders.

The sources added that Vijay will have a one-on-one meeting with Shivakumar to discuss the contentious Mekedatu issue.

The political significance behind the Delhi visit

The Congress, which ended its decades-long association with the DMK, backed Vijay soon after the TVK won 108 seats in the 234-member Assembly, but fell 10 short of a majority. Its five MLAs became part of the arrangement that enabled Vijay to form the government with support from other parties.

Two Congress legislators subsequently entered his Cabinet, marking the party's return to power in Tamil Nadu after 59 years.

The arrangement has also extended to Parliament, with TVK backing Congress leader Praveen Chakravarty for a Rajya Sabha seat. This political arithmetic suggests that the understanding is no longer confined to government formation.

However, the Mekedatu controversy has exposed the contradictions of this partnership. While Vijay opposes Karnataka's proposed dam across the Cauvery, Karnataka CM D.K. Shivakumar has defended the project and sought central clearance.

Tamil Nadu Congress president Manickam Tagore has also publicly challenged Shivakumar's position, effectively placing Congress leaders on opposing sides of an inter-state dispute.

For Vijay, the issue presents a political challenge. His government must defend Tamil Nadu's water interests while maintaining its relationship with the party governing Karnataka.

The DMK, meanwhile, has demanded an all-party delegation meet PM Narendra Modi over Mekedatu, adding pressure on Vijay to demonstrate political initiative. Although speculation surrounds a possible meeting with Modi, no such engagement has been officially confirmed as the PM is away. Sources also say that Vijay will not call on any of the ruling BJP leaders and will only meet with Congress leaders.

Vijay’s Delhi visit therefore brings two questions into focus: whether the Congress leadership can reconcile its competing regional positions and whether the TVK-Congress partnership can move beyond legislative arithmetic to withstand difficult policy disagreements.

The book launch may provide the occasion, but Mekedatu could prove a more consequential test of the relationship.