CHENNAI / TIRUCHY : VCK president and Chidambaram MP Thol Thirumavalavan on Friday said he was not pressurred by anyone to skip the launch of a book on BR Ambedkar, which was presided by actor and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam president Vijay.
In a detailed statement, Thiruma said he decided not to participate, realising the conspiracy and unnecessary sensationalisation of the event by ideological opponents to create fissures within the DMK alliance by trying to use him as a pawn in their political calculations.
Later in the day, speaking to reporters in Tiruchy, Thiruma firmly refuted Vijay’s statement that coalition pressure forced him to opt out of the event. Thiruma said he would also seek explanation from his party’s deputy general secretary Aadhav Arjuna for his speech at the launch, which was highly critical of DMK.
Earlier, in his statement, Thiruma singled out a prominent Tamil daily, which according to him has always been critical of the VCK, for politicising the event since beginning by running speculative news articles.
The book, titled Ambedkar - A Leader for All, co-published by Vikatan Publications and Voice of Commons (VOC), was released on December 6, coinciding with Ambedkar’s death anniversary.
The VCK chief said the event was originally planned on April 14, Ambedkar’s birth anniversary and the organisers sought CM MK Stalin to release the book. However, that plan fell through and later an attempt to invite Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also did not materialise.
While leaders with opposing ideologies sharing stage is not uncommon, Thiruma blamed the daily for portraying as if him sharing the stage with Vijay was indicative of fissures in DMK alliance.
Reiterating his party’s commitment and active role in building the DMK-led alliance to oppose “Sanatanic” forces, Thiruma said VCK realised the intentions and expectations of the opponents and took a decision on the book launch accordingly.