Published Oct 10, 2026 | 3:42 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 10, 2026 | 4:16 PM
Rahul Gandhi and Vijay at Chennai. (Special Arrangement)
Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi arrived in Chennai on Saturday on a special flight from Delhi to participate in a Chhatron ki Goonj event at Chennai’s Island Grounds, where he is scheduled to interact with students.
Congress functionaries accorded him a warm welcome at the airport.
Rahul’s arrival in Chennai came on a day when New Delhi saw widespread arrests and its biggest lockdown since COVID.
Arrests were made from planes and trains. Senior CPM leader Pinarayi Vijayan was alleged to have been driven around without being allowed to take his medicines. Even journalists were not spared.
While Rahul has not yet made a direct statement on the Delhi Police action, Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh posted that PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah seemed to have been “extremely nervous and rattled by a peaceful protest by youth deeply concerned with the planned stealing of their Constitutional right to vote guaranteed by Article 326”.
Rahul had posted at around 11 am that “Gyanesh Kumar will go. This government will go. Then the repair of democracy will begin.”
The Congress leader travelled by car from the airport to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay’s residence in Neelankarai. Tamil Nadu Congress president Manickam Tagore and Congress MPs accompanied him.
Vijay hosted a special lunch for Rahul Gandhi. The Tamil Nadu CM and Rahul also had coffee at ‘Bask by Coffee’ following the lunch.
Following their meeting, the two leaders were seen travelling together in the same car to another location.
Congress sources described the meeting as a customary courtesy call. However, with discussions about a possible future alliance and the next prime ministerial candidate gaining traction among Congress and TVK supporters on social media, speculation is growing over whether the meeting also touched upon alliance arrangements and coordination between the parties.
This is the first meeting between Rahul Gandhi and Vijay since the announcement of the Secular Social Justice Victory Alliance.
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(Inputs from Subash Chandra Bose. Edited by R Rajesh Kumar.)
