New Delhi, May 9 -- Tamil Nadu's big political disruptor and its next chief minister C Joseph Vijay, better known by the mononym Vijay, was keen to join the Congress in 2009 but then general secretary Rahul Gandhi's suggestion that he prove himself by contesting the Youth Congress election, sent him back to Chennai with his political aspirations on the backburner. HT learns that Vijay and his father SA Chandrasekhar came to Delhi accompanied by Congress' national secretary Gopinath Palaniyappan.

"I cannot talk about it,'' said Palaniyappan who was national secretary of the Congress' National Students Union of India(NSUI) at the time, when contacted by HT. The United Progressive Alliance(UPA) had just been voted back to power with Manmoha...