Key Points
Chennai: Tamil Nadus leading Ambedkarite party, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), is looking to contest the Maharashtra assembly polls and to ask its INDIA bloc ally, the Congress, to give it a few seats as it pushes to grow beyond the southern state and project party chief Thol Thirumavalavan as a national leader...
S.S. Balaji, a VCK MLA from Thiruporur, told ThePrint the party would even consider contesting alone to exhibit its strength if it didnt get seats from the Congress.He said Thirumavalavan will try to meet Congress leaders during a visit to Mumbai next week to meet cadres..
The party is still working out Thirumavalavans schedule for his Mumbai visit...
By contesting in Maharashtra, the VCK will be getting into a crowded political landscape with at least three small Dalit partiesthe Republican Party of India (Athawale), the Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)already vying for the states Scheduled Caste votes along with the bigger parties...
The VCK, which has lately been asserting itself in its home state by pushing for a higher stake in power-sharing with the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), wants to expand beyond Tamil Nadu mainly to build Thirumavalavans status as a national leader of not just Dalits, but all backward classes.Now, everyone has come to understand that there is a need for a leader who can stand for the downtrodden people..
