Chennai, Jun 5 (PTI) Backed by the ruling TVK, Congress leader Praveen Chakravarty on Friday filed his nomination papers for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu.
Chakravarty filed his papers in the presence of Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay and several state ministers.
Speaking to reporters after filing his papers, Chakravarty expressed gratitude for the opportunity and termed it a “huge responsibility”.
“I will work hard to raise my voice in Parliament to protect the rights of Tamil Nadu. I will also ensure that the policies and administrative achievements of the Congress-TVK coalition government in Tamil Nadu are prominently highlighted and championed in the Rajya Sabha,” he said.
Separately, in a post on X, he said, “I feel both proud and responsible to be picked as the first MP candidate of ‘Tamil Nadu Social Justice Progressive (TVK+INC+VCK+IUML+CPI+CPM) Alliance’. Hearty Thanks to Rahul Gandhi and Tamil Nadu CM Vijay for reposing faith in me. I assure lakhs of coalition cadres that I will speak as a bold, loyal and honest voice of the Tamil people in Parliament”.
This post created ripples in political circles, as no such alliance was formally announced earlier. The CPI(M) and VCK claimed that they were not informed about the “new alliance”.
CPI(M) State Secretary P Shanmugam termed Chakravarty’s social media remarks as “audacious” (adhika prasangithanam) and clarified that no one had approached or consulted the Marxist party regarding the formation of such an alliance or to solicit support for the candidate.
“Nobody has discussed an alliance with us or sought our support for forming one. We have already clearly stated the specific grounds on which the CPI(M) is extending outside support to the TVK government,” Shanmugam said.
VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan said they “have absolutely no official information regarding that”.
“No, we know nothing about it. Perhaps the TVK leadership is considering discussing such a move in the future. We have no official information regarding that,” Thirumavalavan told reporters in Villupuram.
