Thol. Thirumavalavan told the party's Ulundurpet conference that the VCK will move forward in alliance with Vijay's TVK — settling a question left open since the party joined the government in May.
Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi leader Thol. Thirumavalavan announced on Monday that his party will move forward in alliance with the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, formalising a relationship that has been in place in government but unsettled in political terms. The announcement was made at a major VCK conference at Ulundurpet in Kallakurichi district, and reportedly ends months of speculation over the party's alignment.
The VCK has been part of the Vijay government since May. Following the 2026 election, the party accepted the invitation to join the ministry, nominating Tindivanam MLA Vanni Arasu as its minister, after consultations in which a majority of party functionaries favoured participation. Thirumavalavan at the time described the arrangement as the “first real introduction of coalition governance” in Tamil Nadu.
What he did not settle then was the political question. Asked in May whether the VCK would continue in the DMK alliance or align with the TVK going forward, Thirumavalavan said he would respond “tomorrow or the day after.” That answer has now come at Ulundurpet.
The route from ambiguity to announcement ran through a public falling-out in July. Speaking in Tiruvannamalai and Dharmapuri, Thirumavalavan turned on the DMK directly, accusing it of “bad handling” of its allies and arguing that this had cost it the election.
“Had the DMK announced that it was ready for a coalition government and had respected the sentiments of its allies by giving them a satisfactory number of seats and constituencies they had asked for, then it might not have suffered such a major setback,” he said. He also accused the DMK of attempting to weaken the VCK by inducting former legislator Panaiyur Babu.
Before that, he had floated a different idea altogether: that the DMK and TVK should collaborate at the national level against the BJP, on the Kerala or West Bengal model — rivals in the state, partners in Delhi. The DMK rejected it outright, with party leaders noting that the TVK had identified the DMK as its principal political opponent. DMK MP Ganapathy Rajkumar said the leadership would not accept any arrangement involving the TVK.
He had also warned that a weakened DMK and a fractured AIADMK could open space for the BJP to expand in Tamil Nadu — the argument he has used consistently to justify realignment rather than isolation.
Ulundurpet sits in Kallakurichi district, in the northern belt where the VCK has its deepest support. The party has long been regarded as one of the most effective vote-transfer partners in Tamil Nadu politics, with considerable influence among Dalit voters across the region — the same territory in which the TVK held its first state conference at Vikravandi in 2024.
The VCK was for years an integral part of the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance, and Thirumavalavan had repeatedly rejected suggestions of a shift while that alliance held. The power-sharing offer Vijay extended to prospective allies two years before the election — a demand the VCK had itself been raising — was among the factors that changed the calculation.
| Party | Position |
|---|---|
| TVK | 108 of 234 Assembly seats; leads the government |
| Indian National Congress | In government — first cabinet berth in 59 years |
| VCK | In government; alliance now formalised |
| MDMK | Exited the DMK alliance in June to support TVK |
| IUML | Alliance partner |
| CPI, CPI(M) | Outside support |
The alliance held together visibly on 8 August, when 19 MPs from the coalition — including Thirumavalavan and VCK's Ravi Kumar — passed a unanimous resolution against delimitation at a meeting chaired by CM Vijay, while the DMK and AIADMK stayed away.
Formalising the VCK's position strengthens the coalition's standing ahead of local body polls expected in early 2027, and removes an ambiguity that had persisted through the government's first 100 days. It also marks a further contraction of the DMK-led front, which lost the MDMK in June.
The announcement came on the day the Vijay government completed 100 days in office.
VCK Thol. Thirumavalavan Alliance TVK August 17, 2026