TN: DMK ally blames party’s ‘big brother’ attitude, exits alliance

Chennai: Ahead of the April 23 Tamil Nadu Assembly polls, Tamilaga Vazhvurimai Katchi on Sunday announced quitting the DMK-led SPA, with its founder T Velmurugan objecting to the ruling party’s “big brother” attitude.

The decision was taken following his party being “ignored,”, Velmurugan, incumbent MLA from Panruti (Cuddalore dt) Assembly segment, told reporters here.

“We were told during seat-sharing negotiations that we will be allotted one seat for the Assembly polls. We have been raising a set of demands, including regarding social justice. We were told when other parties are not asking for any demands, why you are making such demands,” Velmurugan said.

“I have been repeatedly asking the government to fulfil at least some of the demands. But the DMK has been ignoring it,” he claimed. On his further course of action, he said that his organisation would not join the NDA in Tamil Nadu and indicated that he was talking to some parties over forming an alliance.

Further, “we have been making charter of demands to the negotiation panel (of the DMK). I have been informing that there was not any problem on allocation of seats but immediately take steps to fulfil these demands,” he said.

Recalling that he has been speaking about the same demands in the legislative assembly for several years, Velmurugan alleged that “the DMK-led government did not care about them.”

During seat-sharing negotiations, Velmurugan claimed, the approach of the election panel of the DMK was like a “big brother”.

“We were told that when political parties including Congress, Communists, and MDMK did not place any such demands, as a legislator and the representative of a small party, they did not deem it fit for us to give such demands and ask them to be fulfilled.”