Will continue to take important political decisions jointly with Left parties, says VCK chief

CHENNAI: VCK president Thol Thirumavalavan on Monday said the party would take any important political decision jointly with Left parties in the future and has not taken any decision or deliberation on extending support to TVK, as Tamil Nadu faces a hung Assembly with no party securing a clear majority.

“We have been travelling together in secular politics for a long time. We will continue to take important political decisions jointly in the future. We have not yet deliberated or arrived at any conclusion on the question you raised,” he told reporters after paying floral tributes to Karl Marx statue at Connemara Library.

On the fractured verdict, he said, “Let us wait and see. We are also like you, a spectator.” He declined to respond to questions on whether the party would join TVK alliance, stating that he would not answer speculative queries.

He said the party was not concerned about hypothetical scenarios such as support from the PMK, and maintained that the people’s verdict was favourable to the political line advanced by the party.

On the overall outcome, he said the DMK-led alliance had failed to secure a mandate to form the government, but had succeeded in its primary objective of preventing the BJP-AIADMK combine from gaining strength in the State.

He said the TVK was not projected as the primary target of the alliance’s campaign, and therefore no intensive campaign was mounted against it. “Our focus was on ensuring that the AIADMK-BJP combine did not gain strength. The people of Tamil Nadu have endorsed that position through their vote,” he said.

While expressing disappointment that the votes had not entirely consolidated in favour of the alliance, he said the outcome still represented a significant political success. He added that the verdict had ensured that such forces would not be able to gain a foothold in Tamil Nadu.

Referring to his earlier statement, he said anti-BJP votes had split, with a portion possibly going to the TVK in addition to those expected for the party.