A brief stir broke out at an official event attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at IIT Madras on Sunday when some attendees held up placards projecting Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay as the “next PM”.
The attendees, believed to be Vijay’s supporters, began whistling and displayed handwritten placards when PM Modi mentioned the Chief Minister’s name during his speech. The placards carried Vijay’s photographs and slogans, including “Next PM Vijay 2029”.
Police asked them to sit down and lower the placards. Although they complied initially, some raised the signs again after officers turned away, gesturing towards video cameras.
Vijay was present at the event, where Modi inaugurated and laid foundation stones for projects worth more than Rs 13,000 crore.
The placards brought a pitch already voiced by Tamil Nadu ministers to an event attended by the incumbent Prime Minister, just five months into Vijay’s tenure as Chief Minister.
Human Resources Management Minister Sarathkumar had projected Vijay as a future prime minister in the Assembly in August.
“Our leader, who is a CM in our hearts, home and St George’s Fort, is the next Indian PM. You are the next PM. You work without looking at AM or PM, you are definitely the next PM,” he said.
A day earlier, Public Works Minister Aadhav Arjuna had argued at the India Today Roundtable Tamil Nadu that a future prime minister should emerge from the South, specifically Tamil Nadu.
“I say this clearly today, a Prime Minister must emerge from the South and the Prime Minister will emerge from the South, maybe not now. In the future, he will represent every Indian and will treat every Indian equally,” Arjuna said.
The pitch subsequently found a wider backdrop in the August India Today-CVoter Mood of the Nation survey, which placed Vijay third among respondents’ preferred choices for prime minister.
He secured 9.2%, behind Modi at 48.7% and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at 27.1%. On the separate question of who was best suited to lead the Opposition alliance, Vijay received 12.2%, second to Rahul’s 29%.
The survey broadened the conversation around a national role for Vijay, though that preference has yet to translate into a prime ministerial endorsement from a wider political alliance.
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