Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) president Thol Thirumavalavan on Tuesday said his party submitted the resolutions passed at the Tamil Nationalism Conference to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay and sought his support for securing greater state autonomy from the Union government.
Thirumavalavan said the party urged the Chief Minister to take up the demand for State autonomy on behalf of the Tamil Nadu government.
“We have met the CM and submitted the resolutions passed in the Tamil Nationalism Conference. We requested the Chief Minister to extend his support for state autonomy. On behalf of the Tamil Nadu government, the CM has to insist that the Union Government grant state autonomy rights,” Thirumavalavan said.
He also said that the VCK would stand with the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) government, while indicating that discussions on a new political alliance would take place after the ongoing Assembly session.
“We stand with the TVK government. We attended a meeting organised by the Chief Minister to form a new alliance. Following the current Assembly session, we will meet and discuss the new alliance,” he said.
Meanwhile, a sharp exchange took place in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on Tuesday over alleged irregularities in a Rs 5.54-crore tender related to the relocation of the Chief Minister’s Office.
DMK MLA, EV Velu raised questions over the tender process, alleging that the tender notification was published in newspapers on the 13th but uploaded on the official website four days later. He also questioned why the amount was mentioned as Rs 5.54 crore in the newspaper advertisement but shown as “NA” on the website.
Public Works Minister Aadhav Arjuna rejected the allegations, saying the newspaper reports were incorrect and that the tender process had not yet been completed.
“The reports published in the newspapers are incorrect. I will provide an explanation for them today itself. The tender process has not yet been completed,” Arjuna said.
He said the government was using the previous Schedule of Rates to ensure that contractors did not inflate bids and added that a detailed White Paper on tendering practices would be presented in the Assembly.
Velu, however, disputed the minister’s explanation and maintained that tender estimates were prepared collectively by officials under the Finance Department.
Arjuna reiterated that no tender could be released without ministerial oversight and said the government was committed to ensuring transparency in the process.