Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) general secretary Aadhav Arjuna claimed that the party’s founder-president, superstar Vijay, was offered the Tamil Nadu chief minister’s post along with “50% assembly seats” by a political party ahead of the upcoming elections.He said Vijay rejected the proposal, asserting that the actor-politician “will not succumb to Delhi.”“Vijay is not a person who will succumb to Delhi for the sake of the chief minister’s post. They gave us all kinds of offers – from 50 to 90 seats. All that Vijay said was that he wanted the trust of Tamil Nadu people not the CM’s post,” Arjuna told party functionaries during a meeting in Kolathur on Tuesday, according to PTI.“We will be a strong force…we will contest from all the 234 constituencies and will form a secular social justice government. This is the message I want to convey to our Christian and Muslim friends,” he added.While Arjuna did not name the party that made the offer, his reference to “Delhi” hinted at a national player such as the BJP, which leads the central government, or the Congress, the principal opposition.However, the Congress has already announced a seat-sharing arrangement with its existing ally, the DMK, led by Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin.Meanwhile, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami has said his party is not in alliance talks with TVK. Tamil Nadu BJP president Nainar Nagenthran also echoed this stance, although there has been speculation about possible outreach from quarters close to the BJP for a poll pact against the DMK.Vijay has repeatedly called the DMK his “political enemy” and the BJP, his “ideological enemy.”The TVK, formed in February 2024, is set to make its electoral debut in the April 23 assembly elections, with counting scheduled for May 4.
