A few months ago, VCK chief Thirumavalavan thundered that Vijay was an RSS creation. The DMK ally in a speech said, “It has now been exposed that younger brother Seeman and younger brother Vijay are, today, children brought forth by the RSS. It has been exposed that they are children of the BJP.”
Today, VCK leader Vanni Arasu formally joined the TVK cabinet. He was sworn in as Minister for Social Justice in Vijay’s cabinet – the contrast between rhetoric and reality could not be starker.
At the height of the campaign and the hung‑assembly negotiations, Thirumavalavan publicly said he had “no disagreement” with the criticism that TVK is a product of the RSS, even as he simultaneously justified offering outside support in the name of stopping the BJP or to not let President rule take over in TN. Once VCK has a full cabinet berth in a TVK‑led government, this is no longer outside support or “issue‑based cooperation”; it is formal coalition participation, with ministerial responsibility and collective cabinet accountability.
The symbolism around Vanni Arasu’s portfolio makes the U‑turn even sharper. As Minister for Social Justice, he now oversees Adi Dravidar Welfare and Hill Tribes Welfare under a Chief Minister and a party his own leader characterised as ideologically tainted by the RSS. If TVK is indeed “RSS’s product,” as Thirumavalavan claimed, VCK is no longer a mere critic shouting from the sidelines; it is the foster child’s guardian of social justice, sitting at the same table and sharing power.
You cannot repeatedly endorse the line that TVK is an RSS product, reap the moral capital of that stance on stage and on social media, and then walk into the same cabinet without a serious public retraction or explanation.
If hypocrisy had a face, it could well be that of Thirumavalavan. And this latest development makes one ask a question – if TVK is truly RSS’s product, what does that make the party that just joined its government?
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