Stalin meets May 17 movement activist Gandhi in hospital

Gandhi was released from the Vellore Central Prison on Tuesday after 53 days of imprisonment. He was held at the Bengaluru airport on August 9 after a lookout notice issued by Tamil Nadu police.

Several cases, including sedition for opposing the Chennai-Salem green corridor and Vedanta’s Sterlite plant in Thoothukudi, have been registered against him.

The social media post of VCK spokesperson Vanniarasu criticising the visit of DMK MLA J Anbazhagan to meet MLA Karunaas in a hospital here has created tension in the ties between the party and DMK.

“In his (Karunaas’) speech, he shamelessly supports violence saying that he will stab and hack people. Anbazhagan meeting such a rogue is not a good political approach,” said Vanniarasu, in his Facebook post. The post has triggered a controversy as the VCK is a part of the DMK alliance with VCK founder Thol Thirumavalavan actively backing Stalin as the Chief Ministerial candidate for 2021.

Anbazhagan had met Karunaas at a hospital in Saligramam after the actor-turned-politician complained of chest pain. Anbazhagan was the second MLA to meet Karunaas after Thousand Lights MLA, Selvam, who met Karunaas in the Nungambakkam police station when he was arrested. Both the visits sparked controversies in political circles and it was reflected in Vanniarasu’s post in which he also questioned whether DMK is supporting the illegal activities of Karunaas.

VCK cadre also reacted against the DMK following the post and the comments showed that they did not favour Anbazhagan meeting Karunaas. The VCK cadre attacked the DMK calling it an undemocratic party. However, the VCK high command did not consider the Vanniarasu’s post as a threat to ties with DMK. “The FB post is the personal view of Vanniarasu and it does not reflect the official stand of the party,” said Thirumavalavan after meeting Stalin on Thursday.