A key ally of the ruling DMK-led INDIA bloc, the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) of Dalit leader Thol Thirumavalavan, MP, raising the issue of power share in government and veiled criticism of dynastic politics, has rattled the DMK ahead of the Dravidian major’s plan to elevate the party’s heir apparent Udhayanidhi Stalin as the Deputy Chief Minister.

Though the demand for a share in power proved to be a storm in a tea cup with VCK president Thirumavalavan on Tuesday making it clear that there is no dissonance in the DMK alliance, the issue has ignited a debate putting the DMK on the defensive.

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He told reporters at Coimbatore that the alliance is intact and that the DMK would participate in the Prohibition Conference organised by the party on October 2 at Kallakurichi.

A few days after an old video of Thiruavalavan speaking about the need for a share in power in government resurfaced, party Deputy General Secretary Adhav Arjuna, son of lottery baron Santiago Martin, has added fuel by claiming that the DMK could not win in north Tamil Nadu without the VCK’s support and the party as well as other allies need representation in the government. He also argues that politics in Tamil Nadu is no more bipolar but has become multipolar with new claimants for power including actor Vijay.

But, what has incensed the DMK leadership was Adhav’s remark “When someone who was acting in movies till four years ago could become the Deputy Chief Minister, why not our leader, Thirumavalavan, who has been politics for four-long decades.”

Further, justifying the demand for power share, the VCK functionary explained that while the DMK gets all the credit for anything that is good, it is the allies who have to face the people for the lapses and are also held accountable. This, according to him is bearing accountability without power.

This drew sharp reaction from the DMK’s former Union Minister and Deputy General Secretary A Raja who dismissed Adhav as a green horn in politics and his views are immature and not in tune with coalition ethics.

He also expressed hope that Thirumavalavan would take necessary action and rein in Adhav, a recent entrant to the VCK. Even as Adhav remains firm in his stand, VCK MP and party veteran D Ravikumar and another senior leader, Vanni Arasu, have downplayed the issue.

While Ravikumar said that Adhav is immature, Vanni Arasu maintained that it was Adhav’s personal view and not that of the party. Interestingly, Adhav is among the few prominent non-Dalit faces in the party.

Now, the VCK has two Lok Sabha MPs including Thirumavalavan and four legislators, of whom two were elected from general constituencies. It has also secured the recognition of the Election Commission of India.

On his part, Thirumavalavan had desisted from either rebuking Adhav or dissociating from him and made it clear that he had discussed the issue with senior party colleagues over the phone and since it is an internal matter of the party it would be taken at the appropriate party forum.

Analysts are divided on the issue with some observing that the VCK leadership is taking a calculated risk, while others explained it as an aspiration of a political party which could not be decried as an attempt at weakening the DMK-led alliance.