As Vijay & allies join INDIA bloc’s anti

Chennai: Vijay is in, but one of his allies seems to have one foot elsewhere.

The Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) Thursday joined the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) protest against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, marking its participation in the Opposition’s agitation days after joining the bloc earlier this month. The bloc’s protest was marred, however, by TVK’s key coalition partner, the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), linking the SIR to the poll victory of Vijay’s party.

TVK Minister Rajmohan Arumugam, who took part in the protest along with leaders of the Congress, VCK, Left parties, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), said his party had opposed the SIR exercise from the outset and would continue to fight against it.

Rajmohan condemned the exercise, alleging that large-scale voter deletions threatened democratic representation, and demanded accountability from the Election Commission of India (ECI), including the removal of CEC Kumar. Speaking at the protest, Rajmohan said, “We have been fighting against SIR from the beginning and continue to do so. SIR is something that undermines democracy. The removal of crores of voters is a matter of serious concern. We will always stand with the people, beyond political differences.”

United stance apart, the fly in the ointment at the INDIA bloc protest was VCK president Thol Thirumavalavan’s statement attributing Stalin’s defeat in Kolathur during the recent Assembly elections to SIR. He speculated that the multi-cornered contests created by the SIR helped the TVK emerge victor in the polls.

Thirumavalavan’s statement against SIR, made in the presence of Rajmohan, sowed confusion among the ranks. What was purportedly meant to sound like an attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to understood by many as an embarrassment to the ruling TVK.

Thirumavalavan accused the BJP of using voter deletions as a political weapon against Opposition leaders and cited Stalin, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan as leaders who, he alleged, had been targeted through the exercise.

Referring to his warning to Stalin, the VCK leader said, “I told him that day itself to change the constituency and I warned him that a conspiracy is being hatched against him.” His remarks suggested that he believed the SIR exercise could have played a role in the electoral outcome in Kolathur. It is to be noted that TVK candidate V.S. Babu defeated Stalin in Kolathur.

This is not the first time VCK has questioned the assembly elections result due to SIR. Despite being a TVK ally, chief Thirumavalavan had last week said that Vijay’s victory in Tamil Nadu Assembly elections could be a result of the SIR. That allegation had also attributed the DMK president’s defeat, at least in part, to the SIR.

(Edited by Nardeep Singh Dahiya)

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