Vijay joins Opposition protest, but TVK keeps BJP at a distance

Rajmohan delivered a spirited defence of voting rights, invoked B R Ambedkar, and pledged that TVK would continue opposing the revision exercise. But throughout his speech, he did not once mention the BJP.

According to leaders familiar with the arrangement, Vijay’s leadership wanted to ensure nominal participation in the Opposition campaign without committing the party to the more confrontational politics unfolding in Delhi.

Leaders within the INDIA bloc in Tamil Nadu pointed to two considerations. The first was the political reality of a minority government that remains wary of provoking the BJP government in Delhi. The second was the controversy surrounding alleged attempts by TVK to attract legislators from the AIADMK, a constituent of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. The allegations of political inducements have not been independently established. But the leaders said they had contributed to Vijay’s caution in dealing with the BJP.

They distinguished these considerations from the continuing CBI proceedings relating to the Karur stampede and allegations involving TVK leader Aadhav Arjuna and Enforcement Directorate investigations, which they did not regard as the principal explanation for Thursday’s restrained participation.

Strong words, small presence

The demonstration at Ramada Circle on Langs Garden Road in Egmore brought together Congress leaders and representatives of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M), Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (CPI-ML), and Indian Union Muslim League (IUML). It was led by Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president B Manickam Tagore as part of the Opposition’s campaign over alleged irregularities in voter lists.

For TVK, it was the first such protest since the party joined the INDIA bloc on October 3. Yet its presence offered an unusually literal illustration of the difference between joining an alliance and joining its agitation.

Rajmohan, entrusted with representing the ruling party, began by greeting the assembled leaders, including Vaiko, Thol Thirumavalavan and representatives of the Left parties. He thanked Vijay for giving him, an ordinary party worker, an opportunity to share a platform with such senior figures.

His speech was expansive about the SIR. “This entire process of Special Intensive Revision has been imposed on India,” he said. TVK, he argued, had opposed the exercise even before coming to power in Tamil Nadu, beginning with its implementation in Bihar. “We are not accustomed to speaking one way when we are in the Opposition and another way when we are in government,” he said.

Rajmohan claimed that the deletion of 97 lakh voters during the initial phase of the exercise had alarmed TVK, prompting public statements and legal intervention before the Supreme Court. He said the party had engaged senior lawyers to challenge the process.

He also alleged that women, young people below 30, members of marginalised communities, economically disadvantaged voters and first-time voters had been particularly affected. Had these voters not been removed, he suggested, TVK might have secured a larger electoral majority in Tamil Nadu.

The claims formed part of the minister’s criticism of the revision exercise. He did not present constituency-wise evidence during the speech establishing its electoral consequences.

Quoting Ambedkar’s description of democracy as a form of associated living, Rajmohan said voting rights were inseparable from the ordinary citizen’s right to live with dignity. He urged the senior Opposition leaders to guide TVK and promised the party’s continued participation in defending democratic rights.

“Guide us, Anna. We are waiting to follow your path,” he told the leaders on the platform. Rajmohan also described TVK and Congress as partners in the same political struggle, likening their relationship with Tagore to a double-barrelled gun fighting for a common cause.

The imagery was considerably more forceful than the party’s physical presence at the protest. Looking at the flags of the participating parties, Rajmohan said he was moved by the sight of different political organisations coming together to defend people’s rights. “This unity that has emerged to reclaim the rights of the people must continue,” he said.

How far will Vijay go?

The gathering came at a particularly delicate moment in Tamil Nadu politics as the DMK, which had previously been Congress’s principal ally, announced its departure from the INDIA bloc on October 12, accusing Congress leaders of betrayal and repeated attacks on the Dravidian party.

Five days earlier, Rahul Gandhi had visited Vijay at his Neelankarai residence for lunch, a meeting that followed last-minute uncertainty within both camps. The following day, Vijay received Modi in Chennai, travelled with him during the inauguration of a Metro stretch, accompanied him to a temple and shared the stage at an official government programme.

Those two encounters placed Vijay alongside the two principal faces of rival national political formations within a single weekend. Thursday’s protest presented a different test — not whether the Chief Minister could receive national leaders across party lines, but how far his party would go in confronting the government in Delhi.

Rajmohan ended his speech by repeating TVK’s pledge to oppose the SIR and borrowing Vijay’s familiar exhortation to supporters: “Be confident. Good things will happen. Victory is certain.” The minister had spoken firmly against the electoral revision and warmly about Opposition unity. The BJP, however, remained unnamed, and the party he represented had largely stayed away.

For an alliance preparing to intensify its campaign against the Centre, TVK had registered its attendance on Thursday. But how much political distance Vijay was prepared to travel beyond that remained less clear.