VCK's Thirumavalavan pitches DMK-TVK front against BJP

Chennai: Thol Thirumavalavan, the chief of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), has urged the DMK and the ruling TVK in Tamil Nadu to unite to challenge the BJP and communal politics.

Although the VCK has not announced that it is cutting ties with the DMK, friction has developed between the two parties after the latter's allies, including Congress, IUML and VCK, one by one joined the TVK government and the Left provided unconditional support, following the DMK's defeat in the April Assembly polls.

Thirumavalavan suggested a united front at the national level similar to the Kerala and West Bengal models, though the two parties are political rivals in the state. However, the DMK rejected it, saying the arrangement would not work.


DMK parliamentarian Ganapathy Rajkumar argued that the split-alliance model cannot work in Tamil Nadu and that his party remains firm that it will not share a platform with the TVK, which has declared the DMK a primary political foe.

"In the front, both the DMK and TVK should find a place," the VCK chief had said while speaking to reporters in Ariyalur.

On Sunday, Thirumavalavan accused the MK Stalin-led DMK of "bad handling" of its allies and said the party had refused to share power, which was the reason for its setback. "Had the DMK announced that it was ready for a coalition government and had respected the sentiments of its allies by giving them a satisfactory number of seats and constituencies they had asked for, then it might not have suffered such a major setback," the VCK chief said.

He also accused the DMK of "poaching" former VCK legislator Panaiyur Babu. "Even if some VCK functionaries had voluntarily approached the DMK, they should have been turned away. That is political ethics," he said.

In Thanjavur, Thirumavalavan expressed concern over the future of Dravidian politics, saying the DMK is being isolated and the AIADMK is fracturing.

He said the weakness in regional leadership is being exploited by the BJP and the RSS.

Thirumavalavan warned that if the regional parties continued to fail as a strong opposition, it could lead to a political environment similar to Delhi or West Bengal, where ruling powers were eventually undermined or dismantled after being weakened.