Why CM Vijay’s Bold Moves Are Unnerving Rival DMK

A day after meeting with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi whose MLAs are part of his government, Tamil Nadu chief minister C Joseph Vijay did the most audacious thing – he went to the airport to receive PM Narendra Modi on his first visit to Chennai after TN polls and sort of rolled out the red carpet. He used PM Modi’s visit to the state to sort out all pending issues — early approval for new Metro projects and the unconditional release of Rs 5,100 crore in pending education funds. Speaking at the at the inauguration of a Chennai Metro stretch –15-km Poonamallee Bypass–Vadapalani section — Vijay outlined demands covering urban transport, education funds, and river linking. He urged the Centre to expedite approval for Chennai Metro’s Phase III to improve connectivity across the metropolitan area. He also sought Metro projects for Coimbatore and Madurai to serve western and southern TN, and an interstate link between Hosur in Tamil Nadu and Bommasandra in Karnataka. Vijay thanked PM Modi for the Chennai–Bengaluru and Chennai–Hyderabad high-speed rail corridors announced in the 2026 Union Budget. Vijay also called for linking the Godavari and Kaveri rivers to ensure equitable water availability across states. On his part, PM Modi assured Vijay all possible help. Political analysts contrast Vijay’s tactical handling of pending state issues with Centre and the manner in which he raised it as a superb move. It apparently contrasts with the hostile manner in which then CM M K Stalin had heckled PM Modi publicly in Chennai in 2021. If PM Modi cedes to Vijay’s demands it will certainly be the end of the road for the DMK. That’s why a silly DMK claimed that PM Modi had “merely” flagged projects it had launched when it was in power.