The Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, the staunch ‘working class’ party, roped in a professional media management company to promote and organise logistics for its May 28 event. Awards named after B.R. Ambedkar, Periyar, Kamarajar, Quaid-e-Millat and Karl Marx were given to political leaders, including Dipankar Bhattacharya, general secretary, CPI (M-L) Liberation, and Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker M. Appavu, at the event.
VCK leader Thol. Thirumavalavan confirmed that while a company was roped in to help the party with pre- and post-event social media branding and promotion, the party didn’t pay it any money. Mr. Thirumavalavan said the party understood the importance of ‘stage management’, which had been an issue at many of the VCK’s public events in the past.
In the past, the VCK’s exuberant workers would try to make their way to the stage in the hope of getting close to Mr. Thirumavalavan, often causing confusion. However, things were different this time.
Mr. Thirumavalavan added, “The party leadership decided that stage management should be done well — who should be on stage and who should be seated down.”
Asked whether the VCK was trying to follow in the footsteps of national and regional parties that recruited professionals to manage their election campaigns and strategies, personal branding of leaders and so on, he said, “We don’t have the money to pay companies like other parties.”
A senior leader said the party would try to work with professionals within the VCK to organise its events in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
