CHENNAI: After days of wrangling over additional seats, Tamilaga Vazhvurimai Katchi led by T Velmurugan walked out of the DMK alliance on Sunday. Velmurugan, however, ruled out joining NDA. “We will not be part of the BJP alliance, which divides people on the lines of religion,” Velmurugan told reporters in Chennai. Velmurugan said he would discuss with like-minded Tamil and Periyarist outfits and decide on the next course of action. Tamilaga Vazhvurimai Katchi, considered a vanniyar party, is the only one to quit the DMK front so far. tnn ‘Govt’s reluctance on caste census due to RSS-influenced officials’ Velmurugan’s grouse was that neither did DMK agree to its request of more seats, nor did it give an assurance on fulfilling his 10-point charter of demands, including implementation of 10.5 % quota for vanniyars and conducting caste census.He accused DMK of showing a “big brother attitude” towards his party. “They (DMK) fulfilled only a few requests I had made over the past few years. When I raised the issue, they were upset and asked how a smaller party like Tamilaga Vazhvurimai Katchi could question a bigger party like DMK,” Velmurugan said.He also accused a few senior bureaucrats of providing incorrect information about him and his party to chief minister M K Stalin. He alleged that govt’s reluctance to give an assurance on conducting caste census was due to ‘RSS influenced officials’. “Stalin is hesitating to provide reservation for backward classes and downtrodden people because he is guided by officials of higher castes having RSS ideology,” Velmurugan said.In 2021, Velmurugan was allotted one seat under which he contested in the DMK symbol and won in Panruti. This time he wanted one more seat. However, DMK was not ready to allot any additional seat, since it had to accommodate new parties in the alliance. This time, Velmurugan had intended to contest in Neyveli constituency and giving the additional seat to one of his party functionaries.Claiming that seats are not important to him, Velmurugan said his primary intention is to work for the welfare of the Tamil society. “We will discuss what to do next, whether to contest alone or to offer support only for the election,” he said.
