Our Dalit vote bank is intact, claims VCK

Ravikumar attributes rout to PMK’s ‘machinations’

The Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) is keeping its vote bank intact. There is neither erosion nor cross-voting in the Chidambaram and Thiruvallur parliamentary constituencies, where it contested, according to party general secretary D. Ravikumar.

In the Chidambaram constituency, party president Thol. Thirumavalan polled 3,01,041 votes and emerged second to AIADMK’s M. Chandrahasi, who got 4,29,536 votes.

In the Thiruvallur seat, Mr. Ravikumar polled 3,05,069 votes and trailed behind AIADMK’s P. Venugopal, who obtained 6,28,499 votes. Mr. Ravikumar asserted that Dalits had not shifted their loyalty. There was no question of cross-voting because the DMK supporters would never vote for any other parties other than the allies. The VCK formed part of the DMK-led Democratic Progressive Alliance.

“But the main reason for the VCK losing both seats is due to the machinations of the Pattali Makkal Katchi that made the sympathisers veer away from the VCK,” Mr. Ravikumar told

The Hindu, adding that in the Chidambaram seat the VCK obtained 2,47,000 votes in 2004 and the numbers went up to 4,28,000 votes in 2009.

Mr. Ravikumar alleged that PMK founder S. Ramadoss engineered “caste polarisation” well before the elections by organising a series of so-called “social harmony meetings” across the State by bringing various caste groups on a single platform.

He acknowledged the fact that had the VCK and the PMK not been on collision course, caste polarisation would not have occurred.

The play of money power too influenced the electorate to vote for the AIADMK, he added.