LIVE: KPCC leaders meet Rahul; Vijay to meet AIADMK MLAs; Himanta takes oath

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay will visit TNCC headquarters, ahead of the crucial floor test the government is slated to face on May 13.

Congress spokesperson A Gopanna, in a statement, said Vijay will be meeting TNCC chief K Selvaperunthagai, AICC in-charge for TN, Girish Chodankar, AICC secretaries Suraj Hegde, Nivedith Alva and Congress party Legislative leader S Rajeshkumar at Sathyamurthy Bhavan, the party's headquarters.

Former TNCC presidents, central ministers, party MLAs and other senior leaders will also be present, he said.

Secretariat sources also said Vijay is also likely to meet VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan and Indian Union Muslim League (IMUL) leaders.

DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin called for the "abolition" of Sanatana Dharma, claiming it divides people, repeating the controversial remarks he made in September 2023.

In his maiden speech as the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, the DMK leader also said the opposition "will not permit" any attempt to sideline ‘Tamil Thai Vazhuthu’, the Tamil invocation song.

"Sanatana Dharma, which divides the people, must certainly be abolished," he said in his speech in the House. His similar remarks in 2023 had created a major row, with the leader facing flak and court cases from pro-Hindu outfits over his remarks.

Referring to the recent swearing-in ceremony of the new government, Udhayanidhi said that the state anthem was pushed to the third position in the order of events rather than its traditional priority.

“Such an incident, which happened during your government's swearing-in ceremony, was a mistake and you should not permit it to happen again in this Assembly. We will not permit it," said the LoP.

DMK leader R S Bharathi dismissed AIADMK leader C Ve Shanmugam’s allegations about a possible DMK-AIADMK post-poll understanding, asserting that the DMK has already made its stand clear on functioning as the Opposition.

Bharathi alleged that Shanmugam was attempting to “split” the AIADMK to extend support to Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay and was now trying to shift blame by making such claims. He further said DMK president M K Stalin had already clarified that the party would sit in the Opposition.

Confirming his faction's support to the ruling TVK, Shanmugam said, "AIADMK has exited from the NDA alliance. Now, AIADMK is not part of any alliance. We will decide later which alliance to join." 

Former Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) leaders meet Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, on Tuesday (May 12), to decide on the next chief minister of Kerala.

The meeting is underway with former KPCC presidents Mullapally Ramachandran, MM Hassan, K Sudhakaran, VM Sudheeran, K Muraleedharan, AP Anil Kumar, PC Vishunath, and Shafi Parambil.

Referring to the DMK’s long administrative experience, Leader of Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, Udhayanidhi Stalin, urged Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay to seek the party’s guidance on governance-related matters when required.

Udhayanidhi also criticised Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar over the order in which the Tamil Nadu state song and Vande Mataram were played during the swearing-in ceremony. He alleged that the state song had been relegated to a secondary position after being played following Vande Mataram and said Opposition parties had raised concerns over the issue.

Drawing a comparison with the recent West Bengal Chief Minister’s oath-taking ceremony, Udhayanidhi said Vande Mataram was not played there and asserted that Tamil Nadu’s state song should not be given lesser importance in future state events.