Tamil Nadu CM Vijay to attend Sonia Gandhi book launch in Delhi
The Tamil Nadu chief minister is travelling to the national capital on November 16 following a personal invitation.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay is scheduled to attend the book launch of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi on November 16, according to reports by The Times of India and India Today.
The event marks the formal launch of the memoir, titled Belonging: A Journey of Love, which was published on November 10. A senior Congress leader said Vijay is travelling to Delhi following a personal invitation from Sonia Gandhi, and that Rahul Gandhi also spoke to him over the phone to extend the invitation.
The chief minister, who is also the president of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), has no other engagements scheduled in Delhi apart from the launch, according to TVK sources. This will be his second meeting with the Congress leader since he took office in May with Congress support.
The memoir has faced criticism from the BJP, which accused Sonia Gandhi of attempting to justify the Emergency and absolve former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi of responsibility for the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. The book has also been noted for containing factual errors regarding the nomination of Rajya Sabha members and the location of a 1999 meeting involving Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Vijay's TVK won 108 seats in the 234-member House during the May Assembly election. The Congress party, which has five MLAs, backed Vijay to form the government, leading to Congress MLAs Rajesh Kumar and P Vishwanathan joining the Cabinet.