CHENNAI: VCK president Thol Thirumavalavan had to once again reiterate on Saturday that his party was still in an alliance with the DMK and also clarify that there was no pressure on him to keep off the book release event attended by Tamizhaga Vetri Kazhagam founder Vijay after a controversy broke out over his party’s deputy general secretary Aadhav Arjuna launching a scathing attack on the DMK.
The speech of Aadhav Arjuna, vowing to defeat the DMK in the next election and describing the present political system in the State as ‘monarchy’, at the book release event on Friday in the presence of Vijay earned the ire of not just DMK supporters, who took to social media to lash out on him, but also left the VCK leaders fuming.
So at a meeting held in the VCK office on Saturday, the party leaders were up in arms demanding action against the new deputy general secretary who attended the book release not in his capacity as VCK leader but in the name of an NGO run by him, called Voice of Commons. But since he was vocal in attacking the DMK many top leaders of DMK reacted to it.
Since Arjuna’s speech triggered speculations, once again, on the VCK planning to walk out of the DMK coalition and possibly join hands with the VCK, Thirumavalan had to clarify his position to quell the rumours.
Ahead of the meeting, to which only select invitees were allowed entry by presenting the invitation at the door, rumours were spread that the DMK had put pressure on Thirumavalavan to not attend the event, in which he was originally scheduled to take part along with Vijay when it was planned more than a year ago.
After Vijay launched his party, Thirumavalavan said that he would take a call on taking part in the event after consultations with party leaders after the media started pointing out that the two leaders would be sharing the stage. Anyway, despite Arjuna having a big role in the book release, organized by a media group, Thirumavalvan decided to keep away, triggering the rumour that he was prevented by the DMK.
Many opposition political leaders also made the same allegation, which prompted Thirumavalvan to clarify that there was no interference from the DMK. But within the VCK tempers ran high after Arjuna spoke ill of the DMK making indirect imputations, forcing Thirumavalavan to agree to take action after first seeking an explanation for the controversial speech.
DMK leaders, however, ignored the charges levelled by Arjuna and only said that they would sweep the 2026 Assembly elections, in which Arjuna vowed to end ‘monarchy’ in the State. Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, when asked about the remarks of Arjuna, said that he did not have the habit of watching cinema news.
