Chennai, Aug 18:
Shedding its ambiguity over teaming up with the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) and further strengthening its hands, the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), a constituent of the Vijay government in Tamil Nadu, on Monday announced firming up the alliance with the TVK.
“We are in alliance with the TVK. Together with the TVK and Chief Minister Vijay will journey together,” VCK president and Dalit leader Thol Thirumavalavan, MP, declared at the party’s ‘Rising Tamil Nationalism’ conference, coinciding with his 64th birthday, at Ulundurpet, 206 km south of Chennai.
“We have been in alliance with the DMK and AIADMK. Now, we are in an alliance with Chief Minister Vijay. Henceforth we will continue our political journey with Vijay,” he said at his concluding address.
The conference, held at a sprawling 40-acre site on the National Highway, drew a massive crowd. “The VCK, now a recognised state party by the Election Commission, should strive to become a ruling party,” he added. The party has two MPs in the Lok Sabha and two legislators in the Assembly.
Contesting the 2026 Assembly election in the DMK-led alliance, the party with two legislators switched to the TVK, following an invitation from Vijay, whose TVK fell short of a majority. The party also has a Minister in the government.
However, the VCK joining the government has left the DMK as an adversary, with Thirumavalavan becoming the target of attack. And he too was non-committal on becoming an alliance partner of the TVK, maintaining that the VCK would walk out of the government any time.
The announcement Thirumavalavan made today was in line with the overwhelming view within the party. The rank and file of the VCK are in favour of the Vijay-led alliance.
Demanding a plebiscite in Sri Lanka to resolve the Tamil ethnic question, the conference adopted a resolution pressing for autonomy with sovereignty for all nationalities in India, which should be made into a truly federal nation. It opposed the rapidly increasing tendency of centralization of power with the Union Government.