DMK ally VCK chief not to share stage with Vijay?

Chennai: Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) founder Thol Thirumavalavan, a key ally of the ruling DMK, is unlikely to share the dais with newbie politician and popular actor Vijay at an event here on December 6 to release a Tamil book on B R Ambedkar.

The Chidambaram Lok Sabha MP’s decision comes after he came under pressure from various quarters not to appear on a stage along with Vijay, who has identified the DMK as his party Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam’s (TVK) “political enemy” in Tamil Nadu.

Sources told DH that Thirumavalavan has conveyed to the organisers of the event, a prominent Tamil media group which is the publisher of ‘Ambedkar: Leader for All’, that they should either stick to the original schedule or hold separate events with him and Vijay. Thirumavalavan was to launch the book on December 6, the sources said, but the media house decided to invite Vijay as well.

“Vijay has openly spoken against the DMK, the leader of the Secular Progressive Alliance of which the VCK is an integral part. It won’t be politically right on the part of Thirumavalavan to appear on stage with someone who openly opposes our senior alliance partner,” a VCK source said.

The source added that the party believes Thirumavalavan is the “right person” to release the book as he is a practising Ambedkarite and underlined the fact that its general secretary Aadhav Arjuna is the co-publisher of the book. TVK sources also confirmed to DH that Vijay will attend the book release as the “chief guest.”

Beyond Vijay’s opposition to DMK, VCK is also worried about losing out a section of its voters to the TVK, which has made Ambedkar one of its five “guiding lights.” VCK, an influential Dalit party with a considerable clout in northern Tamil Nadu, is considered one of the top vote multipliers for the DMK alliance.

Thirumavalavan grabbed several eyeballs recently for his cryptic tweet on his party’s goal of sharing power in the state and extending an open invitation to the AIADMK for an anti-liquor conference organised by the VCK.

Though the VCK founder met DMK President M K Stalin and asserted that the ties between the two parties are “intact”, speculations of a rift continued to dominate media headlines. Vijay’s declaration that he would share power with alliance partners also led to speculation of smaller parties getting closer to the TVK. Then came the news of Vijay being invited for the book release functions, prompting Thirumavalavan to mull over his participation.

“We have conveyed our stand clearly that the book should be released by Thirumavalavan and that he should be the lone chief guest. We believe the organisers have decided to go ahead with Vijay as the chief guest,” the VCK source added.

Senior journalist Maalan Narayanan told DH that VCK doesn’t want to share the dais with Vijay at this stage and would want to wait before revealing its political cards. “They don’t want to precipitate things in the DMK alliance. Vijay is still untested in politics, though his party seems to be doing a lot of ground work silently. VCK doesn’t want to identify itself with Vijay’s party at this stage and it is understandable,” Narayanan said.

He added that functionaries of NTK and VCK could be on the top of TVK’s “shopping list” as they come with a decent amount of field and electoral experience. “VCK wants to keep the cards close to its chest,” Narayanan said.

VCK also feels that the party will be forced to explain its stand if Vijay attacks the DMK or makes a veiled reference to the party at the event. “At this stage, we don’t want to keep explaining our stand on the alliance every day,” the VCK source added.