Amid TVK's 'Vijay as PM' pitch, Tamil Nadu Minister P Viswanathan has said Rahul Gandhi will be prime minister following the 2029 Lok Sabha elections. Viswanathan and S Rajesh Kumar are the two Congress MLAs given a berth in the Tamil Nadu government.

While the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) pitch Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay as prime ministerial face for the next general elections, a Tamil Nadu minister has said that Rahul Gandhi, senior Congress MP and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha, will be the next prime minister after the 2029 Lok Sabha polls. The remarks were made by P Viswanathan, who is Tamil Nadu's higher education minister, during an event in Chennai on Friday.

Viswanathan said there is no second thought about Gandhi not being the prime ministerial face in 2029 and the Congress remains certain that he would be the premier following the general elections. He said the grand old party has also began its preparations for the 2029 and Congress workers in Tamil Nadu are organising political activities with strength.

"I do not want to comment on the question of Deputy Prime Ministerial candidate Vijay. We are sure that Rahul Gandhi will be the Prime Ministerial candidate. There is no room for other questions," news agency ANI quoted him as saying. "Congress party comrades from Kanyakumari to Tiruttani are doing politics with strength. We have started work since there are two and a half years before the elections in Parliament."

Viswanathan, along with S Rajesh Kumar, is among the two Congress MLAs who were sworn in as ministers in the Tamil Nadu cabinet. Last month, Kumar had threatened that the Congress would pull out of its alliance with the TVK if Vijay's party does not endorse Gandhi as opposition's prime ministerial face for the 2029 elections.

"If the TVK decides to reject him, then both of our ministers will quit the cabinet," Kumar, who is Tamil Nadu's Minister of Tourism and Tourism Development Corporation and an MLA from Killiyoor constituency, had said.

The Congress was an alliance partner of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), but pulled out of the coalition to join hands with TVK that emerged as the single largest party after the 2026 Tamil Nadu assembly elections. But lately, TVK leaders have pushed for Vijay as the PM face, drawing an ire from Congress leaders in the state. The party has reportedly also called a meeting with alliance partners amid this.

"As far as we are concerned, our leader is very clear. Tamil Nadu has voted with faith in him. Within two years of the party's formation, it had achieved a major victory and had secured a new election symbol within two months before winning with it... The Chief Minister was taking all necessary steps to protect the people of Tamil Nadu and implement schemes that were desired by the public," ANI quoted Tamil Nadu Minister KA Sengottaiyan as saying.