VCK suspends ‘DMK baiter’ Aadhav Arjuna from party; Thiruma meets CM Stalin

Chennai: Hours before he met Chief Minister M K Stalin ostensibly to hand over a cheque for flood aid, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) chief Thol Thirumavalavan on Monday placed deputy general secretary Aadhav Arjuna under suspension for six months for his constant tirade against senior alliance partner, DMK.

The action against Arjuna, son-in-law of lottery baron Santiago Martin, comes after he embarrassed VCK and Thirumavalavan by sharing the stage with actor-politician Vijay on December 6 and spoke against “dynastic politics” in the DMK. The suspended leader, who was closely associated with the DMK’s first family before he joined VCK, also said the times of “monarchy” in Tamil Nadu was over, while heaping lavish praises on Vijay, who has declared the ruling party as its “political enemy.”

“Keeping the party’s interest in mind, it has been decided by the leadership to take disciplinary action against Aadhav Arjuna, Accordingly, he has been placed under suspension from the party for six months,” Thirumavalavan said in a signed statement. The statement was issued before the VCK leader met Stalin at the Secretariat here and handed over Rs 10 lakh to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund to carry out relief to those affected by floods.

VCK, which enjoys considerable clout among Dalits and holds significant influence in north Tamil Nadu, is an important ally of the DMK. Arjuna’s statements for the past three months, often targeting the DMK, Stalin, and his deputy Udhayanidhi, didn’t go well with the VCK and alliance partners with pressure mounting on Thirumavalavan to crack the whip against him.

While Thirumavalavan was hesitant to act against one of his deputy general secretaries, Arjuna’s speech at the book launch event last week left him with no choice but to take disciplinary action. “I never faced any pressure from our alliance partners over the book release event…I did tell Arjuna not to speak politics at the book launch, but he still went ahead,” Thirumavalavan said after meeting Stalin.

Thirumavalavan has been the cynosure of all eyes for the past few months with the Opposition parties hoping for a split in the DMK alliance, which has registered three successive electoral victories. Despite a few of his actions led to intense speculation about his moves, the VCK chief has been maintaining that his party will contest the 2026 alliance in an alliance with the DMK.

Monday’s statement did acknowledge that Arjuna’s actions are against the “interests of the party” and noted that Thirumavalavan met senior leaders of the party on Saturday to deliberate on the issue.

“Though his (Arjuna’s) statements, on the face of it, create an impression that they were in the larger interests of the party and strengthen its structure further, they invited criticism in the public domain as those comments did question the trustworthiness and goodwill of the leadership,” the statement said.

It also added that Arjuna’s action could also set a “bad example” as such statements could derail the party structure and create a negative impression.

Aadhav’s presence and Thirumavalavan’s absence at the launch of Ambedkar: Leader for All published by a leading Tamil media group has hogged the limelight for the past one week. Thirumavalavan, who was to release the book, pulled out of the event after the organisers invited Vijay for the event as he felt sharing the stage with the actor at a time he has made DMK his “political enemy” will not just embarrass himself but also create a wedge in the Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA).

At the event, actor Vijay, who tore into the DMK, also suggested that Thirumavalavan skipped the book release function at the behest of his senior alliance partner.