"Because TVK leader Vijay deliberately arrived late for the Karur rally, a stampede occurred and all those deaths happened. Therefore, I told the DMK government then that a case should be filed against Vijay and his politics should be exposed," said VCK leader Thirumavalavan, stirring up the political arena in Tamil Nadu.
Following this, we put our questions to VCK General Secretary and MP Ravikumar...
"What is the need for Thirumavalavan to now bring up all this, saying that even after he explained that Vijay was the reason for the Karur deaths, the DMK government did not file a case against him?"
"During the 2026 Assembly elections, the DMK saw only the AIADMK and the BJP as its opponents. Moreover, with a sense of caution not to give too much importance to TVK and help it grow, they also underestimated TVK.
Even when TVK leader Vijay directly criticized the DMK government and the Chief Minister, the DMK did not respond with counterattacks. In fact, it was TVK that specifically targeted and criticized, saying, 'Senthilbalaji is the one responsible for the Karur loss of lives.' They even wrongly criticized the then Chief Minister, who had personally met the affected people and offered condolences, and TVK members attributed a hidden motive to that as well.
Even in such a situation, the DMK government maintained restraint in this matter. Our leader is pointing out that this was a wrong electoral strategy — a political strategy.
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Recently too, Udhayanidhi Stalin himself said, 'We failed to correctly identify who our enemy is. We went out and campaigned everywhere. But we left out campaigning within our own house.' What does that mean then... Isn't it that 'we failed to criticize TVK, our primary enemy'?
So, even the families of DMK members have voted for TVK. So, it is now DMK members themselves who are realizing this reality. This is what our leader has also spoken about.
Likewise, since they were accused in the Karur issue, TVK members, including Minister Aadhav Arjuna, recently gave their explanation. But it is also noteworthy here that DMK filed a case then, saying, 'This will affect the investigation of the case.'"
"What is the reason Thirumavalavan is now saying, 'DMK itself is responsible for the breakup of the DMK alliance. It did not properly handle the alliance parties'?"
"The Congress party was the first to express support for the formation of a TVK government. Even so, the number of Congress MLAs was not sufficient for TVK to form a government. Therefore, it was TVK that approached all parties, including IUML, the Communists, and VCK, and asked for their support.
Even so, some people who claim to be DMK supporters have been continuously criticizing it, saying things like, 'The DMK alliance parties joining the TVK alliance is a betrayal.' More specifically, in recent times they have been targeting VCK even more than the Congress and IUML parties. Even the DMK leaders have remained silent without offering any explanation, as if to say, 'That is the truth.'"
In this context, VCK needs to explain the background and reason for why we came out of the DMK alliance."
"Regarding the DMK alliance before the election, they say that talking about it now, after 4 months have passed, is an attempt to divert attention from the current political failures?"
"Not like that... Even at the meeting held at Anna Arivalayam before the election, our leader had said, in the presence of DMK leader M.K. Stalin, who was heading the alliance at the time, things like, 'MNM should be given a seat to contest. MDMK should be allowed to contest under its own symbol. The Communists should be allotted seats in the number already promised.'
To put it more plainly, we have not even pressed too hard for our own party; instead, we have spoken more in favor of the welfare of our alliance partners, saying that 'VCK should be given no fewer than 10 constituencies.'
So, it is not as if our leader suddenly came and spoke about all these issues only at the Dharmapuri wedding event... We have been continuously speaking about them ever since we were in the DMK alliance. That is exactly what he has spoken about now as well."
" 'I even suspected whether our leaving the DMK alliance and extending support to the TVK was an RSS attempt to isolate the DMK,' Thiruma has said. But now, isn’t that exactly what has happened? Hasn’t anti-BJP politics been reduced, while DMK versus TVK politics is being sharpened here?"
"How can you say that anti-BJP opposition has been reduced? All parties—VCK, the Left, Congress, IUML, and DMK—are still continuously speaking against the BJP, aren’t they? The ruling TVK is passing resolutions against the BJP in the Legislative Assembly.
So, there may be some differences in the form and nature of opposing the BJP. For example, the VCK has been consistently talking about “opposition to Sanatana.” Do the Congress or the Left say that... no, they don’t. Can it then be said that they are not opposing the BJP?"
"In the legislative assembly or in Parliament, there is a convention that 'it is not permitted to speak about someone who is not present in the House.' In that sense, on that day the Speaker himself should have removed Amit Shah's name from the proceedings. But it was removed at the minister's instruction."
"Is the truth behind this that TVK rejected AIADMK's support because it did not get the support of two-thirds of the MLAs?"
"There is nothing of that sort. In the case related to the split in the Shiv Sena party in Maharashtra, the Supreme Court has clearly explained this. That is, two-thirds of the members does not mean only the legislators... it includes Members of Parliament and the entire party membership as well. Only then will the anti-defection law not apply to those concerned. But in the present situation, all this is impossible."
"The AIADMK’s general secretary is Edappadi Palaniswami. So, if support is to be sought from the AIADMK, it must be sought from him. TVK has not asked for any such support. Next, the BJP does not want the Congress to grow stronger in the southern states. Even in this situation, TVK has accepted Congress support and is also giving them a share in the cabinet. Despite knowing that this would lead to opposition from the BJP, TVK has taken a huge risk. So, this is a major indicator that TVK is firmly in the secular alliance!"
"Is 10% reservation for upper castes social justice or social injustice?"
"Reservation for the upper castes is not social justice... it is social injustice," and it was VCK that first filed a case in the Supreme Court and opposed it strongly until the very end. We have also held various meetings and protests continuously about this."
"Then why does Thirumavalavan say, 'Even the BJP today speaks of social justice by saying 10% reservation for the upper castes'?"
"That was something he said in passing. If you watch the full video of what he spoke, instead of the cut-and-paste videos that are being circulated, it would be understood wrongly like this. It is the BJP that says the 10% reservation is social justice. VCK has never said that anywhere.
In the name of social justice, they bring in such things with a religious bias. Therefore, only when the word 'secular' is mentioned does it become clear that it is an alliance against the BJP. That is why our leader said that even the name of the coalition led by T.V.K. should be changed to 'Secular Social Justice Victory Alliance,' and it has been renamed accordingly!"