00:00TVK cornered over Vijay for Prime Minister Chorus.
00:03EPS mocks Vijay, says Vijay can replace Donald Trump also.
00:09EPS takes a drive, focus on governance instead.
00:12Ally Congress warns Vijay over Prime Minister ambitions.
00:14Congress ministers say, back Rahul Gandhi or we will quit from the cabinet.
00:18DMK scoffs, calls it height of imagination.
00:22So the DMK and the AI DMK are mocking Vijay and the TVK for having Prime Minister ambitions.
00:27Meanwhile, the ally Congress party has issued a warning.
00:30The ministers have issued a warning saying that either back Rahul Gandhi for the Prime Minister's post in 2029
00:36or we will quit from the cabinet.
00:41So politics escalating over TVK's Vijay for Prime Minister Chorus
00:48and the chorus is growing with each passing day.
00:50Meanwhile, Congress party, which is the ally of the TVK, has reacted.
00:56In fact, the TVK, in fact, the Congress ministers have also issued warning to the TVK
01:01saying that they must back Rahul Gandhi for the Prime Minister's post
01:04else the ministers, the Congress ministers, will quit from the cabinet.
01:08Let's take a look at what EPS said on Vijay's Prime Minister ambitions.
01:37So politics escalating with EPS mocking Vijay's Prime Minister ambitions,
01:42saying that he can not just replace the Indian Prime Minister,
01:47but he can even replace the U.S. President Donald Trump.
01:51So that is what EPS said in a mocking way.
01:55And in fact, he's also said that Vijay should rather focus on governance than having these ambitions.
02:01Meanwhile, the DMK has also called it heights of imagination.
02:04On the other hand, the Congress party has already issued a warning.
02:07My colleague Anika Keshav is now joining us on the story.
02:10Anika, the politics over Vijay for Prime Minister chorus is escalating with the AIADMK and the DMK
02:18mocking these ambitions.
02:19On the other hand, we have the Congress party, which is an ally of the TVK,
02:23issuing warning that you need to support Rahul Gandhi else we will quit.
02:28Yeah, in fact, it is a mocking comment that we are hearing from AIADMK chief and former Tamil Nadu chief
02:36minister,
02:36Edapadi K. Parani Swami.
02:37He says that, why stop at Prime Minister?
02:40Even say, instead of Trump, please become the president of the U.S., is what Edapadi Parani Swami said.
02:45Certainly, it is a mockery kind of a statement that Edapadi Parani Swami has made against Chief Minister Vijay.
02:52Because in the last many, many weeks, we have heard political chatter about him possibly running for the Prime Minister.
02:59And therefore, Edapadi Parani Swami is taking a swipe at that, saying,
03:03why stop at Indian Prime Minister, even go ahead and aspire to become the United States Prime Minister, president?
03:10All right, Anika, thank you for those details and for that context over the politics and the jives
03:15that have been taken by the opposition in the state of Tamil Nadu over Prime Minister ambitions of Chief Minister
03:24Vijay.
03:25Let's now understand opposition's big PM puzzle.
03:29Let's first talk about Rahul Gandhi, what works for him and what does not for the Prime Minister's post.
03:35So, he has pan-India political experience.
03:39He has campaigned and worked politically across different parts of India.
03:44He's an established opposition phase.
03:46He's one of the most recognizable leaders of the opposition.
03:49In fact, he's the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha.
03:52And the Congress Party has national organizational network.
03:55So, he has access to the Congress Party's nationwide organizational structure.
03:59In fact, he also has experience in parliament and national issues.
04:03So, he has long parliamentary experience and regularly speaks on major national issues.
04:08And he also has a history of taking on the BJP head-on.
04:12So, he has consistently challenged the BJP and its policies.
04:16He's seen as a passionate Modi critic.
04:19So, Rahul Gandhi is known for strongly criticizing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and also his government.
04:26But, he faces Congress internal rifts in some states.
04:30So, the Congress Party faces internal disagreements and factionalism in some of the states.
04:35And if we talk about the India Bloc, the India Bloc is also not unanimously, they have not decided Rahul
04:42Gandhi as the Prime Minister's face.
04:43So, not all the parties who are part of the India Bloc have agreed to project Rahul Gandhi as their
04:48Prime Ministerial candidate.
04:50Let's now take a look at what works for Chief Minister Vijay and what does not.
04:55So, Vijay has a strong mass appeal in Tamil Nadu.
04:59He has built a strong popular following across Tamil Nadu.
05:01And, in fact, the youth, the first-time voter, he has the youth and first-time voter connect.
05:07So, he connects particularly well with the young people, the first-time voters, the Gen Zs.
05:12And he's a fresh anti-establishment.
05:15He has this anti-establishment image.
05:18So, he brings this new political identity outside the traditional political establishment.
05:23In fact, he can boost prospects of a southern Prime Minister.
05:26So, the chorus is also growing for the next Prime Minister to be from the southern part of India.
05:31And he could strengthen the idea of a leader from the southern part becoming a Prime Minister candidate.
05:37Now, he calls BJP ideological adversary.
05:40He has publicly described the BJP as an ideological opponent, which we've heard during campaigning.
05:47And he has a working relationship with the centre.
05:50So, despite political differences, his party has to work with the central government on various matters.
05:55But he has limited political footprint outside Tamil Nadu.
05:59So, his political influence remains largely concentrated in Tamil Nadu.
06:03And he's also untested for national leadership.
06:06So, he's yet to demonstrate leadership of a broad national political coalition.
06:14Let's also listen into the war of words so far over Vijay for the Prime Minister's post.
06:47The Prime Minister
07:18The Prime Minister
07:27So, let's now take a look at if Vijay can emerge as a Prime Minister candidate or not.
07:34So, let's understand what works in Vijay's favour.
07:36So, he has strong electoral, he has massive personal popularity and he will be having three-year chief ministerial experience
07:45by 2029.
07:46That is when the Lok Sabha elections will be taking place.
07:49And he will be a representative from the southern part of India.
07:55Already, the chorus is growing to have the next Prime Minister from the southern part.
07:59And there's a vacuum created by anti-incumbency which could also work in his favour.
08:05Now, what could hold Vijay back?
08:08So, there's no national electoral base for him.
08:10And there's limited administrative track record.
08:14As of now, it has just been months of him into power.
08:17And he has just been the chief minister for three to four months.
08:21And he has weak national organisation because TVK is very much confined to Tamil Nadu as of now.
08:27So, national politics is something that is in which he still does not have any track record.
08:33And resistance from allies like Congress, Congress Party which is an ally of the TVK is already issuing a warning
08:40to the TVK to back Rahul Gandhi for the post of the Prime Minister.
08:44And there's also limited language and cultural reach of Chief Minister Vijay.
08:49So, those are the things, those are the points that could actually hold him back.
08:53But there's also a lot that works in his favour.
08:57So, is Vijay a factor to reckon?
09:00Let's understand.
09:01So, Vijay emerging as an alternative to Rahul Gandhi and Prime Minister Modi.
09:05And this is as per the C voter mood of the nation poll.
09:09And he's entering Prime Minister race at the cost of Prime Minister Modi.
09:13So, the percentage that Vijay has is actually the one which has been deducted from Prime Minister Modi's support.
09:21And the anti-incumbency vote is moving to Vijay than Rahul Gandhi.
09:25So, that's also very important.
09:26That's the biggest takeaway of this poll that there is anti-incumbency that's prevailing.
09:31But that anti-incumbency vote is not going to Rahul Gandhi.
09:35In fact, it is being transferred to Chief Minister Vijay who stands at the third position in the race for
09:41who can be the Prime Minister in 2029.
09:46Now, curiosity factor is also there in superstar turned Chief Minister.
09:49So, this was the maiden election of Chief Minister Vijay.
09:52And his party did well.
09:54He did well.
09:55And he's already the Chief Minister in the first election that was contested.
09:58And so, there's a lot of curiosity not just in the southern part of India anymore but also across the
10:04country.
10:05There's a big Gen Z factor in Vijay's rising popularity.
10:08So, he connects well, very well in fact with the younger generation, the youth, the first-time voters.
10:13So, that's also another key factor.
10:15And Vijay's popularity is growing beyond just south.
10:19So, as I mentioned earlier that his popularity is growing and there's curiosity not just among the southern states but
10:25also among the northern states.
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