Vijay’s projection of himself as the champion of minority rights came in when the O Panneerselvam faction of the AIADMK found in the TVK an option for striking an alliance.
Chennai: Vowing to protect the rights of the minorities by standing by them and safeguard the Constitution of the country, president of the Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam, Vijay, urged the State government, led by Chief Minister M K Stalin, to implead itself in the case against the Wakf Amendment Act and put forward its arguments in favour of minorities through an independent legal battle.
In a message in X on Wednesday, Vijay wondered when the DMK government that had been talking about opposing the amendment to the Wakf Act and on safeguarding the rights of the Muslims would actually act by taking appropriate measures for that.
Claiming that his party had engaged senior counsel Abhisek Singhvi to argue the case against the Waqf amendment in Supreme Court and that the TVK had played a role in the fight to protect minority rights, Vijay said the DMK government, after passing a resolution in the Assembly when Parliament was discussing the Waqf Bill, had done nothing on that after the Act had received President’s approval.
Vijay’s projection of himself as the champion of minority rights came in when the O Panneerselvam faction of the AIADMK found in the TVK an option for striking an alliance.
Though the faction has been proclaiming to be a part of the NDA and expressing a desire to merge with the AIADMK itself, a meeting of its supporters on Wednesday saw the TVK being considered as an alternative for a coalition.
Many of the leaders who spoke at the meeting convened by Panneerselvam to elicit their opinion on the alliance for the 2026 Assembly elections saw TVK as a choice if the group failed to get the due recognition from the BJP.
The group fears that it might be even denied enough seats to contest since the AIADMK, under the leadership of Edappadi K Palaniswami, was keen on putting it down.
Similarly, the DMDK, which is also in a dilemma over forging an alliance for 2026, is said to be considering TVK as an option. Palaniswami is said to be not at all keen on roping in the DMDK by offering them the seats that they might demand and the DMK alliance is perceived to be already crowded with little space for another entrant.
However, that more than lack of options, a recent opinion poll giving 95 to 105 seats and 34.55 percent vote share to TVK, could be the reason for the Panneerselvam faction of AIADMK and the DMDK to evince interest in a tie-up.
Though the obscure Poll Mitra that is said to have started an account in X channel only in February has no credibility as a pollster, the results that appeared on social media a few days back have come as a big jolt to many.
For it says that the DMK has only 30.20 percent vote share and would win only 75 to 85 seats and that the AIADMK alliance, in which the BJP is a part, with a share of 27.85 percent votes could win 55 to 65 seats.
While only lowerer level cadre of the TVK are publicizing the results in social media, the survey has not been fully dismissed as hogwash by the major parties or even media organizations.
