Disintegration of SPA 100 per cent DMK’s fault: VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan

DHARMAPURI: VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan on Friday said that the DMK alone was responsible for the breakdown of the party-led alliance (Secular Progressive Alliance — SPA) after the 2026 Assembly elections. The Dravidian major’s rigid stance had strained its relationship with its allies, and this uncompromising posture has been the undoing of the SPA, he added.

Speaking at a public meeting in a private hall, where he participated in a wedding ceremony, Thirumavalavan said most of the DMK allies joined hands with the TVK post-elections, and the DMK was entirely to blame for its partners leaving the alliance.

He said, “As the leader of the alliance, the DMK bears the responsibility to respect and reinforce the alliance. Why did the relationship between the Congress and the DMK become bitter? Why did the Left parties and even the IUML, which had been allied with the DMK for decades, part ways? Why was the MDMK prevented from contesting in its own symbol? Parties that had long been in alliance with the DMK received fewer seats, while the DMDK, which had just allied with the DMK, got the lion’s share of the seats. It is 100% the DMK’s fault that these parties left the alliance.”

Thiruma said the VCK had no aspiration in elections, politics, or power. “It was a movement to protect people from caste discrimination, eradicate untouchability, ensure education for all, and promote Left ideologies. We uphold the ideals of Karl Marx and B R Ambedkar. However, despite our efforts, once we left the DMK alliance, we were branded as traitors.”

On its alliance with the TVK, Thirumavalavan said, “I myself labelled (C Joseph) Vijay as a child of the RSS, and after the Karur tragedy, I urged the DMK to arrest him. Yet, they did not. At that time I had little faith in Vijay and the TVK. But after the elections, they did not ally with the AIADMK, the PMK or the BJP; instead, they approached the Left parties and the Congress. This reflected our ideals and we decided to go with them (TVK) for the welfare of the people.”

On the name for the TVK-led alliance, he said he was solely responsible for incorporating the word ‘secular’ in it.