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Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) chief Thol Thirumavalavan on Saturday, April 4, announced that he will not contest in the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. The decision was made to put an end to speculation surrounding his sudden announcement to contest from the Kattumannarkoil constituency.
Earlier, Thirumavalavan, who is the sitting MP from the Chidambaram constituency, had announced his return to state politics by naming himself as the VCK candidate from Kattumannarkoil. The decision not only surprised many but also triggered speculation that it was taken keeping in mind a possible hung Assembly scenario in Tamil Nadu.
Thirumavalavan has now fielded I Jothimani, son of Dalit leader L Elayaperumal, as the party’s candidate from Kattumannarkovil. Elayaperumal was a Congress leader who headed the committee on Untouchability, Economic and Educational Development of Scheduled Castes in 1970.
Based on the Elayaperumal committee recommendations, the historic amendment to the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act to abolish the system of hereditary priesthood in Tamil Nadu was made.
After five days of deliberations, the VCK chief cleared the air saying that he is not going on the back foot but redesigning his strategy. “The opinion that I am contesting the election anticipating a hung Assembly is wrong. It insults my intention. Hence I am changing my strategy,” he said, declaring his exit.
The VCK president maintained that entering the state Assembly as a legislator has been his long-held ambition.
Earlier in the day, several reports had suggested that Thirumavalavan was considering opting out of the fray due to rifts within the party. The party has been facing a crisis over seat allocation.
The VCK leader said that though there was a necessity for him to be involved in state politics to confront Hindutva politics, he couldn’t contest in the election. “The Sangh Parivar has been making all kinds of efforts to weaken the secular-progressive alliance, particularly targeting VCK and me. They attempted to cunningly remove me from the alliance. Despite all these attempts, if the alliance is sustaining strongly it is because of my efforts. I can say this proudly,” he said.
He recalled that the VCK had compromised on its slogan of ‘a share in power along with a share in government’ in the current elections, as such a demand could create friction within the alliance.
Denying rumours that he is contesting in the elections out of a desire for a ministerial position in the government, Thirumavalavan said that he has no such desire and cited several instances of him staying out of contests. He added that there was no huge “calculation” behind this move to contest as an MLA. “If I wanted to form a coalition government, I could have done it by continuing as MP. There is no need for me to resign as Parliamentarian.”
He also addressed internal conflicts within the party. The party denied seats to three of its members this time: Aloor Shanavas, Panaiyur Babu, and SS Balaji. Sinthanai Selvan is the sitting MLA of the Kattumannarkoil constituency and has now been offered to contest from the Cheyyur constituency.
It was rumoured that the VCK leader took this decision due to their alleged proximity to the DMK rather than the VCK. Thirumavalavan denied these rumours and said that all four MLAs had represented the VCK and spoken on behalf of the party in the Assembly. The VCK chief said that there was no ill intention behind their removal, but they could not accommodate everyone.
“As a principle, of the two general seats we get from the alliance partners, we wanted to give one to a person belonging to the Muslim community. Going by that principle, this time as well we wanted to give it to Aloor Shanavas. But, unfortunately, the DMK did not allocate us the Nagapattinam constituency. But still I wanted to give it to Aloor Shanavas,” Thirumavalavan said.
The VCK chief said he later decided to give the Panruti seat to Islamiya Jananayaga Peravai state secretary Abdul Rahman, as he has been asking for an opportunity for a long time.
“I took this decision. Though it may look incorrect at the surface level, it is fine. I took it as a principle to allocate the seat,” Thirumavalavan said in a video posted on social media.