Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) president and actor Vijay is all set to launch a book on Dr BR Ambedkar on his death anniversary—December 6. The book, co-published by the Tamil magazine Vikatan and Vidhuthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) vice president Aadhav Arjuna‘s political strategy firm, Voice of Commons, has been the centre of heated controversy after it was initially announced that both Vijay and VCK president Thol Thirumavalavan would share the stage at the book launch. Thirumavalavan has now confirmed to a Tamil news channel that he would not be attending the event as his presence would be “given political colours.”
In an interview with Puthiyathalaimurai, Thirumavalavan said, “Vijay’s speech at Vikravandi caused a stir in the state government. Then, a certain Tamil news daily made a monstrous issue of the book launch. This news daily smeared political colours on what should have just been a book launch and made it a matter of controversy. VCK has been in alliance with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) for six to seven years now. In view of this, if I attend the book launch, it will be politicised as well. My attendance will be given political colours too. Some powers are waiting to turn such situations into problems.” He also added that VCK had neither any relationship nor any quarrels with TVK.
Vijay, at TVK’s first state-level conference in Vikravandi on October 27, had mounted a scathing attack on the state government and declared that the DMK was TVK’s “political enemy” while the BJP was his party’s “ideological enemy.” He also announced the TVK’s left-of-centre stance and that the party had chosen as its ideological leaders: Ambedkar, Periyar, K Kamaraj, Velu Nachiyar of Sivagangai—the first queen to have waged war against the East India Company in 1780, and Anjalai Ammal, who participated in the freedom struggle and was called ‘south India’s Jhansi Rani’.
Both the DMK and Thirumavalavan slammed Vijay for his views in the days following the conference.
The book to be launched is titled Elorukkumaana Thalaivar Ambedkar (Ambedkar: A Leader for All). It carries articles written by 40 intellectuals, political leaders, and activists, including scholar-activist Anand Teltumbde, Thirumavalavan, Ashok Gopal, and others.
While Vijay will be launching the book, the event is also set to be attended by retired Madras High Court judge Justice K Chandru and Teltumbde.
As TNM previously reported in PowerTrip, the launch had been scheduled for April, but certain events led to postponements. Initially, the organisers had approached both Chief Minister MK Stalin and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi but heard back from neither.
Vijay was then approached, and he accepted. With Thirumavalavan also in attendance, sources had told TNM at the time that there was immense pressure on the VCK president to skip the event.
Meanwhile, multiple issues, including the VCK’s criticism of the state government for the Kallakurichi liquor deaths, their invitation to the AIADMK for their anti-liquor rally, and their press conference along with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)), against the handling of the Samsung workers’ protest, had for months caused speculations about a rift in their alliance with the ruling DMK.