CHENNAI: Senior Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi arrived in Chennai on Sunday morning to attend the swearing-in ceremony of TVK chief C Joseph Vijay as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister.
Rahul Gandhi landed at Chennai Domestic Airport around 8.30 am and was received by Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president Selvaperunthagai, Congress functionary Praveen Chakravarty and other party leaders.
He later proceeded to Nehru Stadium, where the swearing-in ceremony is scheduled to take place.
Security arrangements were tightened at the Chennai airport in view of Rahul Gandhi’s visit, with personnel from the CISF and local police deployed at the premises.
The development follows days of post-poll negotiations after the TVK emerged as the single largest party in the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections but fell short of a majority. While the Congress had extended support soon after the results, the deadlock ended on Saturday after the VCK and IUML also backed the TVK, enabling Governor RV Arlekar to invite party chief C Joseph Vijay to form the government.
The TVK now has the support of 120 MLAs-elect, including 107 of its own and 13 from allied parties, and must prove its majority on the Assembly floor by May 13.
The CPM, CPI, VCK and IUML said their support was aimed at preventing a constitutional crisis and did not change their political alignment with the DMK on Tamil Nadu issues.
After the conclusion of the swearing-in event, Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to depart from Chennai to Delhi at 1:00 pm on an IndiGo Airlines passenger flight.