BJP fielded Vijay to split votes: Thiruma

Trichy: VCK president Thol Thirumavalavan has claimed that BJP has strategically fielded actor-turned-politician Vijay to split minority and dalit votes from the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance."Vijay has been fielded to prevent Christian and Muslim votes from going to the DMK alliance. If you vote for him, it is equivalent to voting for BJP," Thirumavalavan said while campaigning in Trichy East constituency. In Nagapattinam, he said Vijay's sole objective appeared to be to defeat DMK rather than improving Tamil Nadu. "Vijay hardly spoke about creating jobs for the youth, caste-based violence, or giving voice to oppressed communities," he said.Since launching his party three years ago, Vijay has mainly criticised DMK but rarely spoken on key issues such as delimitation exercise in public, Thirumavalavan said. The VCK leader dismissed rumours that his party cadres are blindly following the actor due to cinema influence. "I know very well that you are not swayed by cinema glamour. You are those with strong ideological conviction," he said. Thirumavalavan credited DMK and its alliance partners for VCK's growth and its recognition as a state party.