DMK conveyed displeasure to Thiruma over Dec 6 Vijay meet: Sources

CHENNAI: The midnight statement of VCK chief Thol Thirumalavavan regarding his party's continuance in the DMK-led INDIA bloc appears to have been motivated by the dissatisfaction of the ruling DMK over the former possibly sharing stage with TVK president Vijay who has been training guns on the Dravidian major.

Reliable sources in the INDIA bloc disclosed to DT Next that the ruling party conveyed its displeasure to Thiruma over the December 6 book release function in which the DMK’s alliance leader and TVK chief are supposed to share the stage.

Informed DMK sources disclosed that a senior minister from Arcot district spoke to the VCK top brass and conveyed the DMK leadership's displeasure over Thiruma sharing dais with Vijay who has panned out as one of the newest critics of the DMK, and that too when the principal Opposition party AIADMK was making tall claims about the unity of the alliance by improvising on the seeming frictions in the ruling alliance.

In fact, a portion of Thiruma's statement questioning the psyche of people doubting VCK's alliance commitment even made one wonder if the VCK leader felt that the ruling ally (DMK) was amplifying the issue more than it should. An INDIA bloc MLA unwilling to be quoted revealed that the DMK also reached out to the VCK through its general secretary D Ravikumar besides MLA Shah Navas and Vanniyarasu.

A DMK senior, unwilling to be quoted, said that the reassurances of the VCK president help in silencing criticism only after the damage is done. "Based on the expected Thiruma–Vijay meeting at the book fair event, most of the media has been debating the possibility of some of the INDIA parties gravitating towards Vijay or AIADMK. No matter what amount of clarification Thiruma offered, a different narrative is being set. One of the biggest strengths of the alliance was its integrity since 2019. Now, the political approach of one of the alliance partners is threatening to destroy the very image and strength of the alliance," argued a DMK senior on condition of anonymity.

It was the very exasperation of the DMK that might have motivated the VCK chief to issue a statement well past midnight to cool the tempers in Anna Arivalayam which has not been as confident about the Dalit panthers as they used to be.