No limit to imagination: DMK mocks, Congress questions 'Vijay For PM' pitch

The latest India Today-CVoter Mood of the Nation survey placed Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Joseph Vijay among the top choices for prime minister, boosting the TVK’s ‘Vijay for PM’ pitch. The party’s narrative has drawn sharp criticism from the opposition DMK and even its ally, Congress.

While DMK leader RS Bharathi mocked the TVK’s rhetoric, saying there was "no limit to their imagination", the Congress threatened to quit Vijay’s cabinet if his party did not back Rahul Gandhi for prime minister in 2029. Without naming Vijay, senior Congress leader Manickam Tagore tweeted, "Not every number tells the truth. Not every survey is the voice of the people."

The Congress has also threatened to quit Vijay's cabinet if his party does not offer support for Rahul Gandhi in 2029.

Vijay ranked third in the latest Mood of the Nation survey, published on August 28, which assesses how the electorate would vote if the Lok Sabha elections were held today. He trailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

When asked about TVK's push, DMK secretary Bharathi said, "If party members speak, they will even say that he is going to become the head of the United Nations. Imagination, imagination, there is no limit to their imagination. Let them think whatever they want".

He also questioned the implications of projecting Vijay as prime minister while Rahul Gandhi remains the Congress's Prime Ministerial face. Congress and TVK are ruling allies in Tamil Nadu.

"The moment someone says that he will become the Prime Minister, they have already decided that it will not be Rahul Gandhi, haven’t they?" he said.

"If Congress workers have any self-respect, let them come out and say that they have decided Rahul Gandhi will not become the Prime Minister. No, no, he will be the Prime Minister, and let these people keep worshipping him," Bharathi added.

Dismissing the discussions, Congress minister in Vijay’s cabinet Rajesh Kumar said the party has a clear vision for the 2029 General Elections, warning that Congress ministers would resign from the Tamil Nadu cabinet if the TVK does not support Rahul Gandhi as its Prime Ministerial candidate.

"All the ministers claim that our Chief Minister is the next Prime Minister. Media friends constantly ask me about this, and I want to make it clear, our leader Rahul Gandhi will become Prime Minister after the 2029 election. If the TVK does not accept this, both Congress ministers will not continue in their posts," the minister said.

Tamil Nady Congress chief, Manickam Tagore, meanwhile, took aim at the survey without directly naming Vijay or the TVK.

Sharing a Tamil post on X titled "The Fox's Fake Poll", Tagore narrated a fable in which a fox conducts a purported survey among animals and uses its findings to create distrust between a lion and an elephant.

The story questions the survey's methodology, asking how many animals were questioned, where the survey was conducted, whom the fox spoke to, what questions were asked and how the results were calculated.

Tagore then wrote, "Not every number tells the truth. Not every survey is the voice of the people".

Tagore's post ended with the hashtag #MOTN, making his target apparent even though he did not directly refer to Vijay or the TVK in the post.

MDMK chief Vaiko, who is also an ally of Vijay, pushed back against the narrative, saying there is clearly no alternative to Rahul Gandhi as the INDIA bloc’s prime ministerial candidate. He added that he doubted whether Vijay himself had any such aspirations.

"There clearly isn't an alternative to Rahul Gandhi as PM Candidate for INDIA bloc. I doubt Vijay has any aspirations to be PM," Vaiko said, also urging minister in alliance with TVK to refrain from making such comments.

"Neither the honourable Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu nor anyone in their party has any such thought or intention, not even a fraction of it," he added.

As Vijay completed 100 days in office after pulling off a stunning political upset to storm to power by defeating the Dravidian heavyweights in Tamil Nadu, a new political narrative began gaining traction online and offline -- Vijay for PM in 2029. The national ambition even found expression on the ground, with posters backing Vijay for the Prime Minister’s post appearing in parts of Tamil Nadu, including Thoothukudi.