Chennai: The vignette of VCK president Thol Thirumavalvan sharing the limelight with Chief Minister M K Stalin at the centenary celebrations of the Vaikom Satyagraha on Thursday prompted many to wonder if Aadhav Arjuna, the recently suspended deputy general secretary, will have a successful second innings in the VCK fold after his six month suspension and if he will be able to continue with what he had been doing and speaking in the last four months.
Sources close to Arjuna claimed that his spirit had not been dampened by the suspension announced by Thirumavalavan on December 9 after deliberations with the party top brass on the controversy that erupted after he made a the speech in the presence of Tamizhaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) founder Vijay at the book release function organized by a Tamil magazine group.
Arjuna, who claims to have devised electoral strategy for the DMK in the past, was likely to join the TVK itself once Vijay plunged himself full time into politics on the completion of shooting for the last film, the sources said, pointing out that he had also made a visit to New Delhi after the suspension.
Even in the VCK, where he was taking care of the IT wing for close to a year as deputy general secretary, he was involved in reorganizing the party and advising strategic moves. He revived the VCK’s old slogan for capturing power by asserting the party’s right for share in power, which initially created a flutter in the DMK-led alliance.
However, his speech at the book release turned out to be the last straw as he openly declared the need to defeat the DMK in the 2026 Assembly elections, ruffling the feathers of the ruling party members. His eulogizing the late Paramacharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam in the meeting also did not go well with the traditional supporters of the VCK.
Though Arjuna took the suspension in his stride and said that he would be pursuing the dreams of Thirumavalavan, social media and political analysts started speculating on his political future and the DMK-VCK alliance since he had taken a clear stand against the DMK, even suggesting that the party was practicing the system of monarchy that he would fight against.
Now the rumour is that he had met Vijay after the suspension and that he might be enrolled for a significant role in the TVK. Whether it is a political responsibility or just a strategic role, sources close to him say that Vijay was open to taking him in since both of them have a common objective of defeating the DMK in the elections.
Vijay is expected to intensify his political campaign from the New Year by organizing a series of public meetings to reach out to the people and Arjuna is expected to help him on that based on his experience as a strategist and leader of the VCK. It was after he joined the VCK, the party organized two massive conferences, the first one at Trichy and the second one by the women’s wing at Kallakurichi seeking total prohibition.
Also since Arjuna comes from a wealthy family background – his father-in-law Santiago Martin, known as the Lottery King, is a multi-billionaire who was a top investor in the controversial electoral bonds and Arjuna too owns several businesses – Vijay might rope him into the party that did not have experienced strategists now, the sources said.
