Viduthalai Chiruthaikal Katchi chief Thol Thirumavalavan wants to strike gold. Literally.
Addressing his party workers here on Sunday, he directed them to gift him gold when he turns 50 shortly. Just to give a sense of the quantum of gold he expects, he asked them to treat his forthcoming birthday as his marriage ceremony, though he is single.
Does that have a stench of dowry? Depends on how you look at it. For example, VCK’s Cuddalore district president Thirumaran is more than willing to pay up. “Thirumaran has promised that his district would donate 200 sovereigns of gold to mark the event at a function here in July. I urge all members to assume that I am going to marry on that day. I hope your wedding gifts will be in gold. I expect you all will contribute,” Thirumavalavan says.
Reminds you of the costly gifts BSP chief Mayawati loves to receive from her followers on her birthdays each year? Perhaps Thirumavalavan has taken a leaf out of Mayawati’s book.
So, what does Thirumavalavan intend to with the gold offerings? “The gold would be used to develop the party and to launch a TV channel,” he says. Mayawati too claims the gifts she gets go into the party fund pool.
But on last count, her assets doubled during her chief ministership of UP, from Rs 52 crore in 2007 to Rs 111.64 crore when she filed her nomination papers for the RS elections a few months ago. A back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests that her wealth grew by Rs 1 crore each month. Points to ponder.