CHENNAI: The unusual coalition equation that the DMK has been maintaining with its Secular Progressive Alliance partners, who helped TVK president C Joseph Vijay to form the government after the recent Assembly election delivered a fractured mandate, is fraying on its edges after DMK deputy general secretary A Raja passed a nasty jibe at the VCK, to which the latter responded with sharp remarks about the Dravidian major’s political past.
Playing the statesman’s role, DMK president MK Stalin quickly stepped in to douse the fire, though it is not clear if his instruction would help salvage the years-long ties the two parties shared.
On Friday, even as VCK leader Vanni Arasu and IUML’s AM Shahjahan were sworn-in as ministers in Chief Minister Vijay-led Cabinet, Raja took to social media to put up a post: "If the coconut tree in my garden bends and offers tender coconut to the neighbour, in literature it would be called 'muttathengu' (coconut tree in the courtyard). What name should we give it in politics?"
Though he did not name any, the reference to allies was not lost on anyone in Tamil Nadu. The retort came before long, with the VCK stressing that it did not grow at the mercy of other parties.
"What right do other parties have to talk about party defection? Whose history is it that they formed an alliance with the Sangh Parivar to defeat the Congress? Whose 'selfishness' is it that they were part of the Vajpayee cabinet and then opposed the same BJP? Tamil Nadu has seen many such political dramas," the VCK said on social media.
Soon, VCK treasurer SS Balaji joined in. "If you continue to talk about injustice, you will burn in the fire that cannot be extinguished," Balaji warned Raja.
Then it was the turn of TVK leader and Minister Aadhav Arjuna, who, incidentally, was the deputy general secretary of the VCK before joining Vijay’s party. Noting that the words used against VCK president Thol Thirumavalavan and his cadre were highly condemnable, he said such comments were contrary to the principles of dignity and decorum taught by Dravidian icons Periyar EV Ramasamy and CN Annadurai. “Today, the DMK has completely forgotten its foundational principles of duty, dignity, and discipline,” he said.
Amid the public spat, Stalin urged DMK cadre not to use harsh or hurtful words in public discourse. "As your leader, my request to party members is not to speak in a manner that hurts anyone, " he said, and reminded the cadre that the party follows the political traditions laid down by Annadurai and M Karunanidhi.
"We should appreciate what is good and criticise what is wrong. Let us function as a constructive opposition," he added.