T.N. Assembly election: BJP may try to split DMK alliance even if it gets a majority: Thol. Thirumavalavan

Thol. Thirumavalavan discusses Tamil Nadu politics, BJP's strategies, and VCK's role in the upcoming assembly elections.

Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) president Thol. Thirumavalavan, in an interview to The Hindu, defended his decision to return to the State electoral field after successfully contesting in the Lok Sabha elections. He also expressed apprehension that the BJP might engineer a split in the DMK alliance in the future. Edited excerpts:

The VCK had sought seats in double digit and a Rajya Sabha seat from the DMK. Are you happy with the eight Assembly seats allotted to you?

We expected at least 10 seats. Unexpectedly, many parties joined the alliance, especially the DMDK and smaller parties. The leader of the alliance [the DMK] was compelled to accommodate everyone. Hence, even parties that have been in the alliance continuously — like the Left parties, the MDMK, and the Indian Union Muslim League — had to reduce their seats. For example, the MDMK has given up two seats. The Left parties had six earlier, as against five each now. In such a situation, the DMK told us that it was willing to give us more seats, but not in double digits. Initially, it offered seven, but I sought eight. I did not want to prolong the negotiations.

Did you get the constituencies you asked for?

Usually, no party gets all the constituencies it asks for. There will be multiple parties seeking to contest from a constituency. It has to be given to someone, and the others must give way. In that sense, we first confirmed three constituencies: Kattumannarkoil, Cheyyur, and Thiruporur. Nagapattinam had already been allotted to Jawahirullah, which surprised us. We were told that our party’s deputy general secretary, Shanavas, had expressed his willingness to contest from another constituency; hence, the seat was given to the Manithaneya Makkal Katchi. We got Arakkonam. We asked for Vanur, but didn’t get it; instead, we got Kallakurichi. In the southern districts, we asked for two seats. It was willing to give one: Periyakulam.

When you announced your intention to contest from Kattumannarkoil, you said Tamil Nadu politics would change significantly after this election. What do you think will change?