Chennai: An invitation to the AIADMK to participate in a protest demanding implementation of alcohol prohibition in Tamil Nadu and a cryptic tweet by its chief Thol. Thirumavalavan advocating “share in power” – all within a week -- have put Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), a key ally of the ruling DMK, in a spot.
As the developments led to intense speculation about the future of the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA), which has won every election it contested since 2019, Thirumavalavan met Chief Minister and DMK chief M K Stalin on Monday to declare that there was “no rift between” the two parties.
However, the fact that Thirumavalavan, who share an excellent rapport with Stalin, chose to invite the DMK’s principal rival, AIADMK, to an anti-liquor conference being organised by his party on October 2 has exposed chinks with the alliance. VCK shared an old video of its chief advocating a “share in governance and in power” only to delete and re-post once again convey much more than what meets an eye.
After meeting Stalin, Thirumavalavan said the Chief Minister agreed to send former MPs R S Bharathi and T K S Elangovan as representatives of the DMK to his party’s conference in Kallakurichi, where a hooch tragedy in June this year claimed 66 lives.
He also maintained that he gave a “common appeal” to parties including AIADMK but said he has left the decision to them.
On ‘share in power’ tweet, Thirumavalavan said those issues will be discussed during elections, in a clear signal to the DMK that the ruling party shouldn’t take its allies for granted. The message that Thirumavalavan has delivered to the DMK in the past week is that “secular parties” now have an option in the AIADMK, which has distanced itself from the BJP and continues to assert it won’t ally with the saffron party in the 2026 polls.
While inviting AIADMK for the anti-liquor conference, Thirumavalavan also reminded the DMK to fulfill its promises on reducing the number of liquor shops. VCK is the latest DMK ally to publicly praise the AIADMK or talk about the party after a section of leaders in the Congress seemed to have toyed with the idea of courting the opposition party in the state.
Political observers say Thirumavalavan’s statement is nothing but a message to the ruling party that it needs to be magnanimous with its existing allies in seat-sharing for the 2026 assembly polls, but said there won’t be any threat to the alliance.
During the 2021 assembly polls, none of the alliance partners were happy as the DMK was very keen on contesting the maximum number of seats. VCK was allotted six seats against its wish of a double-digit number and hence the recent statements are being seen as a “friendly message.”
“Thirumavalavan has no option but to drop hints about switching to AIADMK because of the snide remarks targeting his party from certain DMK leaders. But that doesn’t mean he will cross over ditching the DMK. He knows that the DMK is much stronger in the electoral battlefield when compared to the AIADMK,” senior journalist R Bhagwan Singh told DH.
“At the same time Stalin too knows it when a long time friend is hurt, he has done the right thing by meeting him personally. Besides, we have no elections round the corner,” Singh added.