VCK seeks parity with other allies; Thirumavalavan calls on Stalin

Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) founder and Chidambaram M.P. Thol. Thirumavalavan on Saturday met Chief Minister M.K. Stalin at his residence in Alwarpet, but the party remains hopeful that they will be accommodated in a manner that reflects their strength.

Party sources said he accompanied the newly appointed State Information Commissioner A. Vijayaram and introduced him to Mr. Stalin.

Asked if any specific demand was made with respect to seat sharing, a senior VCK leader echoed CPI(M) State secretary P. Shanmugam’s statement that VCK and the Left parties have remained committed to the secular cause and shouldn’t be asked to reduce its seats when the Congress and the DMDK are allotted more Assembly seats and given Rajya Sabha seats additionally.

“The strength of both Congress and the DMDK has been overestimated. How can the DMDK be given double digit number of seats and the same can be denied to us? It is unfair,” said the senior leader. He added that the party would stick to its demand of “two digit” number of seats since they believe that they have grown by leaps and bounds since 2011, when they were allotted 12 seats (Tamil Nadu and Pudhucherry).