Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay’s scheduled meeting with senior Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on Thursday has been postponed, according to sources. The meeting, which was expected to take place at 10 am, was reportedly called off late Wednesday night, although the exact reasons behind the postponement have not been officially disclosed. Sources indicated that a new date for the interaction is likely to be finalized sometime next week.
The postponed meeting was expected to take place a day after Vijay held discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during his first visit to the national capital since becoming Tamil Nadu chief minister. Vijay’s Delhi visit has drawn considerable political attention, particularly because it comes shortly after his party, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), formed the state’s first coalition government in decades with support from several opposition parties, including the Congress.
During his meeting with Prime Minister Modi, Vijay reportedly raised multiple issues concerning Tamil Nadu, including the Mekedatu dam project, the arrest of Tamil fishermen by Sri Lankan authorities, and the controversy surrounding the Tamil Thai Vazhthu invocation song. In a letter submitted to the prime minister, Vijay emphasized Tamil Nadu’s long-standing respect for national symbols while defending the traditional importance of the Tamil invocation song in the state’s public life following criticism over the sequence in which it was played during his swearing-in ceremony.
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The Tamil Nadu chief minister also expressed concern regarding Karnataka’s proposed ground-breaking ceremony for the Mekedatu balancing reservoir project across the Cauvery River. Vijay reportedly stated that the project violated the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal as well as Supreme Court rulings related to water sharing. According to him, the announcement has created anxiety among farmers in Tamil Nadu who depend heavily on Cauvery River water for agriculture and irrigation purposes.
In his meeting with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Vijay submitted a memorandum seeking greater central funding for infrastructure and development projects in Tamil Nadu. He urged the union government to prioritize investments in ports, national highways, railway expansion projects, and industrial corridors critical to the state’s economic growth. He also requested support for metro rail projects in cities such as Coimbatore, Madurai, and Erode, along with the establishment of more Institutes of National Importance within the state.
Vijay’s Delhi visit comes only days after he comfortably won the trust vote in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, consolidating his authority as chief minister. The TVK had emerged as the single-largest party in the recent Assembly elections before forming a coalition government with support from the Congress, CPI, CPI(M), VCK, and IUML. Political observers believe his meetings in Delhi are significant both from an administrative perspective and in terms of shaping future political alliances at the national level.
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