Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay at Chennai. File
| Photo Credit: B. Jothi Ramalingam
Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay, on Wednesday (June 3, 2026), announced that the party has allocated to its ally the Congress, the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Tamil Nadu, for which bypolls are scheduled to be held on June 18.The TVK’s decision to forgo an opportunity to send its first nominee to the Rajya Sabha and instead allot it to its post-poll ally, the Congress, which has only five MLAs in the State Legislative Assembly, surprised many in the ruling party.C.Ve. Shanmugam’s resignationMr. Vijay’s announcement came shortly after a Congress delegation led by All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge for Tamil Nadu Girish Chodankar met him at the Secretariat in Chennai and requested him to allocate the Rajya Sabha seat, which fell vacant following the resignation of AIADMK leader C. Ve. Shanmugam, to the Congress.Mr. Shanmugam, who was elected to the Upper House of Parliament in June 2022, resigned from the Rajya Sabha on May 7, 2026 after being elected to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly from the Mailam constituency in Villupuram district in the recent Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. The tenure of this Rajya Sabha seat ends in June 2028.Just ahead of the Assembly polls, the Congress had secured a Rajya Sabha seat when it was part of the DMK-led alliance. Its nominee, Christopher Tilak, was elected to the Upper House.With this, the Congress’ representation from Tamil Nadu in the Rajya Sabha is likely to increase to three, the highest in recent decades. Veteran Congress leader and former Union Minister P. Chidambaram was elected from Tamil Nadu in 2022.Girish Chodankar’s requestEarlier, while speaking to journalists after meeting the Chief Minister, Mr. Chodankar said he had requested that the Rajya Sabha seat be allotted to the Congress as the party wanted to strengthen its presence in the Upper House. “We have impressed upon the Chief Minister that we need to strengthen our Rajya Sabha representation,” he said.All India Congress Committee incharge for Tamil Nadu Girish Chodankar arrived at Secretariat in Chennai to meet Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay. @the_hindu@THChennaipic.twitter.com/OdYbvaBwe1— N Sai Charan (@nscwrites) June 3, 2026To a question on whether there was any discussion on inviting the TVK to join the INDI Alliance and attend its meeting on June 8, Mr. Chodankar said no such discussion was held with the Chief Minister.Responding to a question on whether the DMK would continue to remain a part of the INDI Alliance, Mr. Chodankar said the DMK was very much part of the alliance and added he did not wish to comment further. He also said Mr. Vijay was unable to meet the Congress leaders in New Delhi during his recent visit to the national capital “due to a mismatch in schedules.” Published - June 03, 2026 06:52 pm IST
