Caught between his party’s long cherished goal of power sharing and the political compulsion of remaining with the DMK, Dalit leader and MP Thol Thirumavalavan on Friday ruled out entering into an electoral alliance with actor Vijay’s fledgling Tamilaga Vettri Kazagam (TVK).

“The political stand on share in power was aimed at uplifting and empowering the marginalised sections. Vijay’s invite to potential allies with the bait of power share has sparked off speculation that it was aimed at the VCK. Since it was our long held goal, such a debate cannot be avoided. But, the VCK, which was instrumental in the formation of the INDIA block given the prevailing political context, has no necessity to switch sides,” VCK president Thirumavalavan said in a statement addressed to the VCK cadre.

Ever since Vijay’s announcement that the TVK, making its maiden entry into the poll fray in the 2026 assembly elections, was prepared to share power with its allies, all eyes were on the VCK. For days before the TVK’s first state conference on October 27 where the kollywood star made the announcement, the VCK had raked up the issue in the public domain. First, it was a past video, wherein Thirumavalavan emphasizes the need for power sharing, which had gone viral once again.

Then followed, VCK Deputy General Secretary Adhav Arjuna’s defence of it saying, “If a person who was acting in films just four years back (Udhayanidhi) could become the Deputy Chief Minister, why not our leader who has been in politics for four decades.”

If this wasn’t enough to raise the hackles of the DMK, Thirumavalavan an Vijay sharing the stage at a book release function scheduled for December 6, coinciding with Dr BR Ambedkar’s death anniversary, has once again gave rise to speculations that the VCK is inching closer to the TVK and is keeping its options open.

Further, acclaimed filmmaker Pa Ranjith and another Dalit leader and ‘Puthiya Thamizhagam’ party president K Krishnasamy have welcomed Vijay’s announcement and the actor holding Ambedkar as a guiding light of the TVK.

It is in this context, Thirumavalavan has alleged that a smokescreen is being created that the VCK is preparing the ground for a tie-up with Vijay.

“This is because our ideological enemies, in whichever form they are, are unable to stomach the alliance continuing intact since 2019. They could not allow it for the 2026 assembly poll and hence conspired to create a doubt about the integrity of the alliance. There is no compelling reason for the VCK to switch sides or form an alternative alliance,” he said.

Thirumavalavan’s statement assumes added significance in the wake of the AIADMK also keeping its hopes alive about the VCK as a potential ally. AIADMK General Secretary and former Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswamy had issued a diktat to his party leaders to avoid any criticism of the DMK’s allies but train their guns only on the DMK and the BJP.