Senior leaders of TNCC miffed that Praveen Chakravarty met TVK chief Vijay

All India Professionals Congress chairman Praveen Chakravarty is learnt to have met TVK leader Vijay in Chennai on Friday. Senior leaders in the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) were miffed with the development, since only this week, the party’s official five-member committee, constituted to hold seat sharing talks with allies for the 2026 Assembly election, had formally met ruling DMK leader and Chief Minister M.K. Stalin.

While no information was available about what the two discussed, sources close to those in the seat sharing committee said such “unauthorised meetings” would destabilise and derail negotiations with the DMK, the existing senior ally. “Nobody is authorised to hold any parallel discussions on electoral alliance other than the five-member committee formed by the All India Congress Committee (AICC). We have already kickstarted our negotiations,” said the source.

Another senior TNCC leader said: “Our alliance with the DMK is strong. There is no question of exploring another alliance.”

TVK sources added that many in the party were still hopeful that the Congress would ultimately break its ties with the DMK and form an alliance with the TVK. “While we are hopeful of an alliance with the Congress, the formation of the five-man committee shows that Congress could soon seal a deal with the DMK. Mr. Praveen Chakravarty could be misleading our leader that the Congress is inclined to join hands with him,” the TVK source said.

Mr. Praveen Chakravarty could not be reached for comment. He did not respond to text messages.