Who Will Vijay Send To Speak For Tamil Nadu In Rajya Sabha?

There is a lot of speculation about who will Tamil Nadu chief minister Joseph Vijay send as his first member to the Rajya Sabha as the Election Commission has announced the by-elections for the lone Tamil Nadu seat vacated by former AIADMK minister C V Shanmugam after he won the Assembly elections. TVK is expected to win the seat comfortably.  Speculation is that Vijay is most likely to make a pick between his two political advisors – Vishnu Reddy and John Arogyasamy. Vijay desperately needs a person in Delhi to interact with the Centre. His choice will be firmed up when he visits the national capital for the first time on May 28 to call on PM Modi and other Union Ministers. Last date for filing nominations is June 8. TVK which currently has 107 MLAs is the single largest party, with support of 22 rebel AIADMK MLAs. Four AIADMK MLAs have resigned are hoping to seek re-election on a TVK symbol; this could increase TVK’s numbers in the assembly. The Congress is not happy with the TVK’s this approach of augmenting its numbers. At the same time, the Congress is keen to augment its own presence in the Rajya Sabha and hopes Vijay will allot the Rajya Sabha seat to it. If TVK allots the seat to the Congress, the party’s next chance to enter Rajya Sabha independently will only come in 2028 when six members from the state retire. Rahul Gandhi’s aide Praveen Chakravarty has been hoping to make an early entry into RS even it is only for two years. Of course, these issues Vijay will perhaps thrash out when he calls on Sonia and Rahul Gandhi at 10 Janpath on May 29.