Following his explosive interview with Thanthi TV, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) Dy General Secretary Aadhav Arjuna came under fire for his comments on the DMK’s hypocrisy. DMK Deputy General Secretary A Raja criticized VCK Aadhav Arjuna for suggesting that the DMK cannot succeed in the northern districts without VCK’s support. The DMK MP pointed out that Aadhav’s remarks, made without fully grasping the DMK’s ideology, seemed to benefit the BJP indirectly.
Subsequently, another interview with Puthiya Thalaimurai has made headlines since it was made public on 24 September 2024.
VCK leader Aadhav Arjuna began by standing by his comments made in the first interview on DMK and said, “There is no mistake in my opinion. I will not go back on the comments I made. I travel in a democratic movement. “I don’t know what wrong thinking is behind this,“ he said.
He added, “If you look at my entire interview, it was about the alcohol prohibition and drugs conference, followed by the data shared at the District Secretary meeting by our leader, and I had shared only that I stand by those comments, there are no mistakes in it. I work in a democratic setup/organization, and I do not understand what is wrong in the thoughts.”
The reporter, Dravidianist supporter K Karthikeyan, then brings in the comments of VCK’s Ravikumar who said Arjuna’s comments lacked political maturity.
To this, he replied, “I don’t disagree with his comments. We are in alliance, and the party in alliance is claiming victory, which is wrong. Most journalists ask me about the 2% vote share we have. Since I am the general secretary, as a VCK cadre, and since I worked on that data, I can say it. Because we contested in 6 seats, we got 0.99%, but in 60 constituencies, on average, VCK has 30,000 votes, which amounts to 18 lakh votes. If you consider the entire TN, VCK has at least 30 lakh votes. So do not shrink us to only 0.99%. Look at our growth. We live in a democratic nation and even a party cadre would want his party to be in power. I just put forth this opinion and to say this is wrong, I don’t understand why people who claim they are democratic like A Raja find it problematic. My thought process is only this: Chandrababu Naidu allies who run an ideological campaign. He knows he cannot win alone, so he forms an alliance and campaign with a common agenda. Subsequently, democratically, he (Naidu) gave Dy CM post and other posts to the parties who were a part of the alliance. This is democracy. I believe that if this thought process comes to TN it is good for the state. I am not saying make us the Dy CM today, DMK has a majority with 117 seats – who they make CM is their party’s decision. But VCK’s future goal is to go towards a position of power, which is my job. To get this done and to make comments on this is not wrong according to me. This is our right and opinion.”
The interviewer once again brings up the topic of Naidu allying with Pawan Kalyan only after the latter proved that he had a 6% vote share by contesting alone in previous elections. Arjuna replied, “If a party needs to come to power, it must have 47% votes. Today, one single party cannot achieve that on its own. You ask why VCK is not contesting alone, none of the parties in the state do not have the attitude to do that, be it DMK or ADMK. The situation is such. You cannot push VCK to only contest alone, everyone has to do it and prove.”
Agitated by the response, the interviewer questioned why he mentioned Pawan Kalyan and that VCK alone is asking for a Dy CM post. He also mentioned Arjuna’s quote about Udhayanidhi Stalin, who is being considered for the Dy CM post after having a career in cinema. Arjuna replied, “That is our future goal. Today we are not questioning DMK.”
As if he is the spokie of the DMK, the interviewer, instead of being neutral, transforms into a DMK supporter and asks, “In 2026, why can’t VCK follow Seeman’s path, contest on their own, establish their vote share, and then in 2031 become CM/Dy CM, have you thought about that?” to which Arjuna replies in confirmation stating that it is their future goal.”
Then the interviewer poses A Raja’s comments, alleging that VCK is leaning towards the BJP and that the VCK chief must take action against such people. Arjuna replied, “I have worked with A Raja earlier and I agree with his comments as a Periyarist. But in this instance, I do not understand why he made such a comment because he knows me well. My job is to bring about the growth for VCK and help in its goal. Our leaders have released books on coalition governments. I am working for the party to take it forward. It is not targeting DMK. Why are these comments being misconstrued as supporting the BJP? Does having a few ministers from VCK mean supporting the BJP? Who is opposing the BJP better than us? If we speak about BJP, we are labelled anti-Indian. If we question authority, we are labelled “sanghis“. Let me list out the problems VCK is facing. We are not able to hoist a flag anywhere, why is it happening under this government? In Madurai, we could not hoist our flag recently.
We are requesting a law against honour killing but they have not done it. Workers are protesting, and Soundararajan is supporting them. That is why we wanted to bring in a Common Minimum Programme (CMP) for the future. I am not talking about today, neither DMK nor anyone else. I don’t understand why DMK even reacted to this. There is no personal agenda even. Let me ask a counter question to Raja. He says we must follow social justice. So I am asking him, we are talking for him as well. How many Dalits live in TN? How many cheris are there in every village? Has there been economic progress in those areas? Have they access to professional education? How many people are doing farming in 10-20 acres of land out of 100 acres? There are several problems. Let me ask him one more thing. Why is Raja contesting from Nilgiris instead of Perambalur which is his home constituency? Why can’t he win from Perambalur? Why is he being sent to Nilgiris? We are bringing that social justice. Ambedkar has said that if a person can win in an election without caste or religion backing, only there democracy and social justice can prevail.”
Once again, the interviewer becomes a DMK supporter and places doubt on VCK that the talk about the Dy CM post was to break the alliance. Arjuna slammed the interviewer, saying, “If VCK becomes a cabinet member, what favour will it bring to the BJP? This is a future goal. Will Jawahirullah or a communist member becoming a minister in the cabinet help the BJP grow? What will happen if there are 2 VCK members in the cabinet? I am just putting forth that thought process. Why is DMK mistaking this? Either accept it as a good thought/opinion or ignore it. Please understand that if we are united, BJP can never make a mark in TN.”
About the CMP, the interviewer stated that it was in place when DMK was in alliance with BJP because the latter party had Hindutva as its main agenda and that it would affect the minorities, so they put it in place. Congress had a CMP with left parties because they had disagreements over capitalistic policies, nuclear policy, etc. He then questioned how Aadhav could compare ideologically different parties putting together a CMP with someone who thinks DMK endorses honour killings, does not want VCK flags in the state, and that DMK instigates violence against SCs/STs and why a CMP is needed for parties that are united by social justice and equality.
Arjuna said, “You mention the ideology and unity by social justice and equality, but is it being translated in governance as policy delivery? This is where CMP is needed. You ally to fight an election, it does not get over with that. During the five-year rule, they develop policies, and each party will have a request. There have been protests in Samsung and the transport department over retirement benefits. Why hasn’t the TN been able to achieve this? Let me tell you one more important thing. The issue of Vengaivayal. I don’t think Raja even went there. It is a serious issue. The families in that village were drinking feces-infected water for one week. A sub-inspector could have solved this but why is it still unresolved? I believe that TN’s electoral system is wrong. You keep questioning the police department, but it is political will, the cabinet that will give orders to the police department. If the cabinet is problematic, there will be issues. We have solutions to create social justice for all, for Dalits, and we think that is why the Vengaivayal issue has not been addressed and is still unresolved.”
When the interviewer points out the difference in thought process between Aadhav Arjuna and his party members and ultimately places blame on DMK for the system’s failures, Arjuna says, “See this as a failure of the TN government. When things do not happen, we need to voice out our concerns based on issues. Why are people protesting, why is VCK protesting the inability to hoist the party flag? Why did we protest against the Vengaivayal incident? We are together against the issues against the central government but after forming the state government, if the government fails to fulfill the policies, our voice must be heard. If we don’t do that, over time such parties will disappear.”
The interviewer then points out how an election alliance is different when it comes to policies. Arjuna said, “You are only talking about an electoral alliance. TN government must address all day-to-day issues. Our 2024 election agenda was to not allow communal forces to win, it is over, we won the elections. It doesn’t get over with that when it comes to policy. Each member of the alliance has a request and that has to be addressed. All this can happen only with a CMP. The TN government has not delivered it as policy so far.”
The interviewer then tries to corner Arjuna with some allegations. He said, “Dy CM, power sharing, coalition issues, you claim all these are not pointed at the DMK. But your recent interviews indicate that you are pinpointing the DMK. You also said that in 2026, no party will get the majority although the DMK has fixed a target of 200 seats, and your comments on the Mamannan film are also very pointedly targeted at the DMK and Udhayanidhi Stalin. Any educated person can guess that.”
Aadhav replied, “The reference to the Mamannam film is not to target any party. I am only pointing out the thought process that prevents people from coming to a position of power because of caste. You just asked me about CMP and why it should not be there or why the VCK leader should not be Dy CM. These thoughts are wrong.”
The interviewer cut him in here and asked him not to “project” it so that it would be seen to be against the SCs and STs. Aadhav replied again, “This has already been there for a long time. This comes to the fore, especially during elections. I have seen it myself. Before the elections, you talk about social justice and everything else. But during the elections, Dalits are not allowed to contest in a general constituency as others will not vote for them, why is such a thought process being formed? Why has Raja not been able to contest from Perambalur?”
The interviewer justifies it by saying, “This will directly impact electoral victory, and we can only progress towards a change of opinion step by step, as you say. A casteist society that has been in place for 2000 years cannot be broken by 50-100 years. Despite what Periyar and Ambedkar said, we can only move towards an equal society gradually. How can you fix the accountability for that for a few parties that have been in power for 50 years?”
Aadhav slammed him again, saying, “Madam Jayalalithaa made a Dalit contest in a general constituency and won. Why can’t you take that as an example? Should it take another 200 years? Everyone knows 2024 was a sweep election. Why do we decide beforehand that a Dalit cannot contest in a general constituency? Everyone studies get degrees and becomes IAS/IPS, but if you want to come to a position of power or minister/CM, we cannot do that. There is a system that prevents this upward climb. We threw away religion. UP votes for Hindus, and we call it wrong. But you mention 1000-2000 years. Periyar put social justice in place, and it will be 75 years. We in TN are not able to talk about it here. It is not wrong. Caste politics is at its peak only during elections. That is why I keep repeating that parties like VCK, communists, and minorities must have a presence in the cabinet. Only when that happens, there will be a check-and-balance system. Each of their requests must have a place in the cabinet. How can you say that some things are possible while others are not and blame the system? How can the TN government compromise? If we bring this up, you ask us to contest alone. Why should we? Ask everyone to contest alone.”
Talking about social justice in the cabinet, he further said, “Caste-based minister appointments cannot help change the system and implement policies. That is why VCK needs to have a share in power. This is our future goal, but Raja opposes it and says we are allying with the BJP. I have not even placed the request for power sharing with the DMK.”
The interviewer then asked him if they would break the alliance if no one offered them a Dy CM post and that they would not ally with ADMK, BJP, or Seeman. Vijay being the only option left, would they ally with him? Aadhav Arjuna replied, “Anything related to the alliance will be decided by our leader, Thirumavalavan. But we will work towards bringing VCK to a position of power. Our needs are important, and they will be addressed, in my opinion.”
When asked if alcohol prohibition was necessary, Aadhav said, “We decided to go ahead with the protest after the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy. We knew it might create an image that it would be against the DMK. But this is a protest to get the TN government to change policy. They have been talking about a gradual prohibition of alcohol/liquor since 2014. The issues around this are escalating. Earlier, there was an issue in Marakkanam, and Kallakurichi saw many deaths. A gradual decrease doesn’t seem to be happening since the sales report only shows an increase in revenue in the last 1.5 years. This 1000 rupee scheme for women is a good one, but the family member snatches this money from the woman, and it goes back to TASMAC, which is why sales have increased. So, even though the scheme is successful, it is detrimental. So we are requesting the state government to close down liquor shops and the central government to make it a policy.“
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