Aadhav Arjuna interview: TVK was never interested in aligning with AIADMK, BJP

There were no direct or indirect talks with AIADMK and BJP, says TVK general secretary Aadhav Arjuna in an interview. “Congress leader Rahul Gandhi spoke to Vijay on how Congress wanted to bring back Kamaraj rule and how DMK spoiled Congress growth,” he says. Excerpts: AICC functionary Praveen Chakravarty says he, along with another functionary, met Vijay multiple times with the approval of the relevant Congress leadership. What were the meetings about?Praveen is a good friend. We have a long friendship and the same mindset on secular and social justice ideologies. I know people in Rahul Gandhi’s close network. This wasn’t alliance talks, but a friendly exchange of views.

Rahul Gandhi called our leader, and our leader interacted with him when the meetings with Praveen were on. This was not meant to cement an alliance. They spoke about how Congress wanted to bring back Kamaraj rule, how DMK spoiled Congress growth, and how DMK’s first family controlled Congress second-level leaders. Vijay and Rahul Gandhi are still good friends. You said Vijay was offered 90 assembly seats and the CM post for two and a half years, but he refused. Who offered it, and why didn’t Vijay accept it?I don’t want to give the party’s name. AIADMK openly invited us to join their alliance, and so did BJP.

If our focus is only on money, we can align with AIADMK and BJP. We want to set our party’s ideology. We are a strong secular and social justice force. Tamil Nadu is synonymous with Annadurai and Periyar. Everyone says TVK has no alliance. If TVK wanted, it could have created a big alliance. We believe we can win on our own. We believe in our own party, our leader.

We believe our candidates and the public support us. We respect what people expect from us.

 AIADMK and BJP invited TVK to join the alliance. Would it not have been possible for all of you to consolidate against DMK?No chance. People believe in us. The real AIADMK vote bank has moved to TVK. The fight now is between TVK and DMK. TVK is going to win. We have a tall and charismatic leader. We are already in the number one position. There is no chance of us aligning with any other leader. Piyush Goyal denied BJP approached TVK for alliance talks and said EPS would not risk leadership for someone unlikely to win more than a few seats.I don’t know what Piyush Goyal is saying. For BJP leaders, it is like vacation time. They are taking holiday tours in TN during the election. Their leaders in Delhi do not understand Tamil Nadu politics.

There is not even a 1% chance of a national party winning in Tamil Nadu. Soon after TVK was launched, did you reach out to AIADMK for an alliance?We never reached out to any party. We never formed an alliance committee. There were no direct or indirect talks with AIADMK. They are all rumours. They kept saying TVK will come, TVK will join. We focused on 234 seats. On May 4, we will get a majority. An actor who accompanied Vijay to a wedding event appears to have upset a section of voters. Is it likely to affect Vijay’s prospects?DMK always targets women, including Jayalalithaa, using nasty and undemocratic words.

They targeted her personal life. See, even in MGR’s time, Karunanidhi attacked aggressively. But people do not bother about such things. They act against those indulging in character assassination. Do you see the Karur stampede impacting TVK’s prospects?After Karur, we are devastated. An inquiry is underway, and we want justice. The era of DMK’s family rule is over. Only Rahul Gandhi reached out to Vijay. Will Vijay campaign in Karur?We are still working on campaigning in second- and third-tier cities.

We are awaiting permissions based on public safety. Let’s see how it will work out. What are TVK’s chances in this assembly election? How many constituencies can you win? DMK claims it will win 200 seats. The DMK alliance includes more than 24 parties. It is not like 2021. This is a discordant alliance. It is not an alliance built around the cadres’ interests. Congress cadres and office-bearers want to align with TVK.

That is the ground reality. But one or two leaders insisted on aligning with DMK for their own interests. Rahul Gandhi loyalists have left the campaign. There is a perception that Vijay is skipping some scheduled campaign programmes. Is that true?For our leader’s rallies, we need SPs, DSPs, commissioners and DIGs on duty, along with detailed permissions. Unlike the CM’s or Udhayanidhi’s events, our crowds are much larger, usually more than one lakh for Vijay.In many second-tier districts, the roads are too narrow for this kind of crowd. That’s why we skipped places such as Cuddalore. We’re choosing venues with wider roads such as Kanyakumari and Tirupur.