"They call themselves a social justice government. But they are not even ready to conduct a caste census in the state to ensure social justice," said T Velmurugan, whose Tamizhaga Vazhvurimai Katchi on Sunday walked out of the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA).
The party was forced to quit the alliance as the DMK shut all options of seat-sharing discussions leaving us humiliated in the end, Velmurugan told The New Indian Express. The decision to quit the alliance has been unanimous, he added.
"They held only one round of talks with us. Thereafter, they said they will invite us for talks. We waited for 20 days. Then senior minister EV Velu spoke to me over phone. He informed that Chief Minister MK Stalin is willing to allocate only one seat to Tamizhaga Vazhvurimai Katchi. You can accept it or take your own decision," Velmurugan quoted the minister as saying.
"We sought three seats, including Neyveli and a reserved constituency," he noted.
"But more important for us than the seats was the 10-point charter of demands which we had submitted to the DMK. But the ruling party uttered not a word about these demands till the end," he added.
'There are forces who don't want VCK to grow'
Amid ongoing seat-sharing negotiations with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Thol Thirumavalavan, leader of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), on Saturday voiced concern over his party’s persistent difficulty in securing sufficient electoral space, despite being active in politics for 25 years.
“Even after 25 years, this political field still feels new to us. We have not fully adapted, and the social environment has not been favourable,” he was quoted as saying by a report.
He was addressing party cadres via a Facebook live interaction.
He pointed out that there are forces that do not want the party to grow into a strong political entity. “A majority still believe that we should not gain strength or evolve into a decisive political force. There is little encouragement or support for our growth,” he noted.
Kamal Haasan's party wants to contest in torchlight symbol
Actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan's Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM), part of the the DMK alliance, is expected to contest from three seats. However, MNM insists its candidates will contest under the party symbol of the torchlight rather than the DMK's rising sun symbol. Party General Secretary Arunachalam stated, "We have been fighting to get this symbol from the Election Commission and we want to contest only under it."
'Edappadi knocking at the doors of TVK'
Former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, currently with AIADMK, took a jibe at AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami on Saturday, saying that Palaniswami is "running here and there as if possessed", knocking at the doors of TVK leader Vijay for alliance support. He added, "Palaniswami and Udayakumar have dug a pit for AIADMK and buried it."
