Chennai: While TVK was awaiting the crucial support of VCK on Saturday, the dalit party’s leader Thol Thirumavalavan was a breath away from being propped up as chief minister, VCK sources said.The proposal of Thirumavalavan as – reportedly supported by DMK and AIADMK – surfaced late on Friday night amid political uncertainty and negotiations over govt formation after the assembly election verdict threw up a fractured mandate.According to VCK leaders, the discussions gathered pace when Thirumavalavan, accompanied by senior party functionaries, visited Stalin’s house on Friday night. By then, CPI and CPM were working on formalizing their support for Vijay. “At that point, the DMK leadership conveyed that they were open to Thirumavalavan becoming chief minister,” said a VCK functionary. “Talks with AIADMK leadership were also progressing in that direction.” Sources said that until then, sections within the AIADMK leadership had been exploring a post-poll power-sharing formula with DMK to keep TVK out of office. Former deputy chief minister Udhayanidhi Stalin was believed to have played a key role in exploring the feasibility of such an arrangement centred around Thirumavalavan. After the Left parties announced their support to TVK, Thirumavalavan postponed a scheduled press conference on Saturday morning, triggering speculation if the party was reconsidering its options. The VCK chief eventually handed over the party’s letter of unconditional support to TVK functionary Aadhav Arjuna at a private hotel around 4pm on Saturday.Even after this, efforts continued from the AIADMK side. Sources said Palaniswami reached out to Thirumavalavan and urged him to reconsider. “The AIADMK leadership felt the VCK chief acted in haste while discussions were still underway,” a source said. Senior VCK leaders are understood to have pressed Thirumavalavan to consider the proposal, arguing that such a move could increase the party’s political leverage.According to party insiders, Thirumavalavan later told his associates that he did not want to be perceived as someone pursuing power at any cost. He was also said to be uncomfortable with what he viewed as possible BJP influence over TVK. Some leaders said at an earlier stage, Palaniswami had offered Thirumavalavan the deputy chief minister’s post in a potential AIADMK-led arrangement, along with a choice of portfolios. DMK, however, was unwilling to support it.VCK, which contested six seats as part of the DMK alliance, won two constituencies in the election.
