Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) founder Thol. Thirumavalavan and the party’s general secretary, D. Ravikumar, will be contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Chidambaram and Villupuram Lok Sabha constituencies.
Mr. Thirumavalavan and Mr. Ravikumar, along with VCK floor leader Sinthanai Selvan, MLA Aloor Shanavas and MLA S. S. Balaji, met Chief Minister M. K. Stalin and other DMK leaders, including T. R. Baalu, E. V. Velu, K. Ponmudy, Tiruchi Siva, S. S. Sivasankar and T. K. S. Elangovan on Tuesday, March 19, 2024, at the DMK’s headquarters, Anna Arivalayam.
Earlier this month, the DMK completed seat-sharing talks with the VCK and allocated to it, two seats, in its alliance: Chidambaram and Villupuram, both reserved constituencies.
However, unlike in the 2019 general elections, this time around, Mr. Thirumavalavan and Mr. Ravikumar will be contesting on VCK’s own symbol. In 2019, Mr. Thirumavalavan fought the Chidambaram elections on the ‘pot’ symbol and won by a very small margin, while Mr. Ravikumar contested the Villupuram seat in DMK’s ‘Rising Sun’ symbol and won by a huge margin.
“The DMK will win in all 40 constituencies including in Pudhucherry. I will be contesting from Chidambaram constituency for the sixth time and Ravikumar is contesting from Villupuram for the second time. I hope the people of Chidambaram will vote for me and send me to Parliament,” he said.
Mr. Thirumavalavan added that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had undertaken two major yatras that were meant to rescue the nation from fascist forces, unemployment, price rise, and to protect farmers’ and workers’ rights. “There will be a silent revolution in India. Even though the I.N.D.I.A. bloc does not have a prime ministerial candidate, the people have decided to remove the BJP from power,” he said.
Mr. Thirumavalavan further said that the PMK and BJP have similar ideologies and are steeped in caste-based and religion-based politics. “Even though the PMK has joined the BJP, it won’t make a big difference in terms of their vote share,” he said, adding that the BJP was trying to swallow the AIADMK and PMK. “It is a surprise that PMK has joined the alliance fully knowing this,” he said.
