'Crowds Don't Always Mean Votes': Kanimozhi To NDTV On Vijay

Having differences of opinion does not mean that an alliance is going to end, DMK MP Kanimozhi has said on her party's tie-up with the Congress.

Speaking to NDTV's Shiv Aroor at the NDTV Tamil Nadu Summit on Friday, the DMK leader said she is not very clear on what actor-politician Vijay stands for, and just because he is attracting crowds does not mean that it will translate into votes for his party, the TVK.

Addressing speculation about the DMK and the Congress drifting apart, Kanimozhi said, "People in political parties have their opinions and expectations and, unlike in the AIADMK and the BJP, they are allowed to express them. That may make it look like there is a huge rift, but differences of opinion do not break an alliance. Every alliance is a negotiation. This has been a very long relationship, and the Congress and the DMK have an ideological connection."

"We are here to fight for social justice and to ensure this country stays secular," she asserted. 

Asked what she thought about Vijay's entry into politics, the MP said she would like to understand what he stands for. 

"Unless they tell me what they stand for, unless they talk about certain issues, I will actually not be able to say... Just because crowds are coming, that doesn't actually mean that it's going to convert into votes when you are facing elections. I am not just trying to wish him away, but I want to know what their ideology is, what they stand for, what they believe in. When somebody says 'Periyar is my ideological leader, but I do not accept his atheism', then the first line itself makes me suspicious of that person," she explained. 

Kanimozhi maintained that the overarching issue in the Tamil Nadu elections will be protecting the diversity and secular nature of India and continuing the philosophy of social justice that the DMK has been championing. 

"Dravidian politics is always about inclusiveness. I think the greatest feminist I have come across in my life is Periyar. He said nothing should stop you. We also fought against gender bias. In Tamil Nadu, among organised labour, 42% of the workforce is women. We have not reached where we should, but we are getting there," she said. 

Asked about the BJP's high-octane campaign in the state and its attempts to increase its footprint, Kanimozhi said that divisive politics will not work in Tamil Nadu. She emphasised that while some parties try to portray the DMK as anti-Hindu, especially after the Deepam row, her party has done 4,000 Kumbahbhishekams (consecrations) in temples across Tamil Nadu. 

"We are against discrimination in the name of any religion. We are against taking away opportunities from people in the name of religion. We are against treating people lesser than anybody in the name of religion. We are not against any religion," she stressed.