Thirumavalavan's 'share in power' video clip sets tongues wagging

Chennai/Madurai: A video clip of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi chief Thol Thirumavalavan, the ruling DMK's staunch ally, strongly advocating a share in power for ordinary people went viral on Saturday on social media.

Dramatically, the video was deleted from Thirumavalavan's 'X' handle, and it soon reappeared on the same social media account, causing ripples and leading to questions like whether VCK was demanding ministerial berths in the Cabinet led by Chief Minister M K Stalin.

Thirumavalavan himself later clarified that the point was nothing new and it had all along been the party position. "This can be spoken at any time; there is nothing wrong," he said.

He emphasised that there is no election now and if at all something like this should be proposed, it may have to be done only in 2026, when Tamil Nadu will go to the polls to pick a new government.

DMK spokesperson Constantine Ravindran said it is his party which shared power with the common people.

"Thirumavalavan's remark need not be viewed as seeking a share in power from the DMK, it is VCK's standpoint for over 25 years," he told PTI.

Amid speculations that the video clip that disappeared and reappeared was old, the VCK chief told reporters in Madurai that it was not an old video clip but a new one, that showed him quoting a long-standing ideological standpoint, in vogue since 1999. There are two persons who administer his social media page and there appears to be a confusion and nothing else, he added.

The 'share in power' video clip that was deleted and posted again on Thirumavalavan's 'X' account also had a link to his full speech at a party meeting on September 12, 2024 at Maraimalainagar in Chengelpet district, near Chennai city.

Thirumavalavan, in order to clarify, reproduced in a post on 'X' the exact remark (slogan) he had made in that party meeting near Chennai. It was: "Democracy, also for the last man ! Power for even the ordinary people ! Share in governance and share in power ! This is the party's slogan ever since it entered electoral politics way back in 1999." Against the background of VCK's invite to the DMK's arch rival, AIADMK, for the October 2 anti-liquor conference of his party in Kallakurichi, the VCK chief said there was absolutely no electoral alliance calculations involved. "100 per cent we are taking forward liquor eradication in politics." He made it clear that his party is with the DMK-led alliance and there are no issues at all about it. PTI JSP/VGN VGN KH