00:00So as we're getting closer to the bi-pol in Tamil Nadu, in both Madhurantakam as well as Dharapuram,
00:05you can see that the political war of words is heating up. But joining us on this broadcast,
00:10we've got political analyst Akshat Ram with us, also Mr. Satya Kumar, spokesperson of the TVK.
00:16I'll begin with Akshat Ram on your impression first, Akshat, of what Chief Minister Vijay said
00:22when he suggested essentially that the DMK is a party that despite the laws continue to do
00:27everything they could to try and grab the election, grab power. He's also spoken of what
00:32happened in Kolatur. Firstly, Akshat, thank you so much for having me on your panel this evening.
00:40I don't necessarily agree with what the Chief Minister has said extensively today against the
00:47DMK about power grabbing, about what they're doing in elections, because let's be real,
00:51this bi-election did not even have to exist. It only exists today because of a personal ambition,
00:56political horse trading that the TVK has carried on very extensively against the AIDMK.
01:01This same Dharapuram where the Chief Minister has spoken today, P. Satya Bama, their candidate,
01:06won with 40.56% vote with the AIDMK. Yet shortly after winning, she has decided that she is not
01:13part
01:13of the ruling government and she wants to be part of the ruling government and she says so in her
01:17speech, in fact. But the people of Dharapuram, do they agree with this? It's a big question that we
01:22need to ask, because let's be real, wherever she's gone to campaign, she's been booed away.
01:27There are multiple local issues, farmers' issues, issues with water that have been risen, that have
01:32been, you know, brought up against her. And this is basically them trying to manufacture a mandate,
01:40because let's be real, they are still a minority government. They need enough number of seats to be...
01:44Many times have we seen this, Akshay, this is surely something that's not new. You know, we've seen this
01:49with almost every single political party. The TVK may be new to the game, but they've pretty much gotten
01:54into the same political fold of what every single party does. Having said that, Mr. Satya Kumar,
01:59your response is that this bipol is necessitated because of these allegations of horse trading
02:04against the TVK?
02:07Not really. See, the MLS, lawfully they resigned and after the Representation of People Act, once they
02:13resigned, they have the liberty to go to other parties. And Akshay, if you may note, why did they
02:18resign in the first place? They resigned because ADMK and DMK wanted to come together to form the
02:23government, which is against the ideals of the ADMK party in the first place, because we all know
02:28about the history where Mr. Purachita Lever MGR started the party opposing DMK and Jalalitha
02:35ma'am opposed the party until her last breath to the DMK. So when that is the kind of the
02:42DNA of
02:42ADMK, they are coming together to form the government, were not accepted by the
02:49MLAs who got elected from the ADMK. So they came out voluntarily and they are recontesting from TVK.
02:57What's wrong in us? What's wrong in it? It's a lawful thing and it is not illegal and it is
03:03their
03:03voluntary resignation and they came here, they sought a ticket and ticket was provided. So it's a liberty of
03:08the party also to provide a ticket. There is no agreement. I know very well, I can confirm you,
03:12there is no agreement to the candidates that the seat will be provided. Now they get the seat because
03:17the party gave the seat to them and they are contesting the election. So as it happens in any
03:22election process. So here the DMK or ADMK are coming and saying that we are grabbing the power.
03:28Why should we grab the power? In some of the constituencies we have got 68% and in most of
03:33the
03:33rural constituencies we have got. Because you don't have the numbers, Mr. Satya Kumar, what they
03:38constantly highlight is that you don't have the numbers. Your allies right now are, you know,
03:43on the fence on several issues. They've been publicly criticizing you on several issues and
03:48therefore you don't have the numbers. You need the numbers. These leaders who are willing to jump
03:52ship, join the TVK, contest. If they win, then your numbers go up. That's why you're doing it.
03:58Akshita, if you note, the numbers went up post our election itself because see, share in power,
04:02share in governance. Today Congress has got ministry in our government and VCK has got ministry in our
04:07government. And once they get the share in power, so it is almost the government is stabilized.
04:12And now adding up to these two MLA's winning the elections will add up more stability to the
04:16government. And five more constituencies we have for the elections, by elections. And one of the
04:23constituencies where Tirichikirak, that is East, Tirichikirak, where Honorable CM contested the
04:29election. So that is also going to be, there is going to be a by-election. So very much we
04:33are
04:33in a very stable government. And I'm very confident for next five years, we are going to have a stable
04:38government.
04:42The reality is though, Mr. Satya Kumar, that many of your allies have been speaking out against some
04:46of the moves made by our government. But I am going to say this, that, you know, through the entire
04:50speech of Chief Minister Vijay, not once did he make the mention of AIA-DMK. He refers to the
04:55DMK. So I'm glad you, sir, are naming the AIA-DMK when you're speaking about what's really happening
05:00in Darapuram. Akshat, this is part and parcel of politics. Ultimately, looking at this particular
05:05bipolar and the way it's poised, there are many analysts, many experts who suggest that this is a
05:10seat that the TVK is going to sweep, irrespective of the images that you refer to, that this is a
05:15challenge
05:16for the DMK to conquer. Akshat, I'll tell you why the TVK will possibly not sweep this election,
05:24right? Let's look at local issues first. 23 TMC last year in terms of water that has gone to the
05:30PAP farmers. This year, 8 TMC. Who is behind this? The same MLA who is now contesting against
05:37the TVK ticket. Farmers are buying 6,000 rupees a tanker to be able to survive on, to make their
05:44coconut farm survive, right? Power cuts are constantly frequent. Even five ministers of the
05:51TVK government have had different meetings with farmers on power outage. Still, nothing happens.
05:57Residents of the metro city in Darapuram have threatened to boycott this election.
06:03Let's be real. There are people in the constituency who are boycotting this election.
06:10Because this candidate and her political opportunism has created a necessity for this
06:15election. And the people of Darapuram feel, why do we have to go back and vote? We constantly
06:21talk about the amount of money it takes to run an election in this country, right? And this
06:27by election, let's be…
06:28Do you think, Akshra Trump, ultimately, ultimately, you're referring to a power cut crisis, you're
06:33referring to these issues. But it's not been enough time for anti-incumbency to step in.
06:37So in that sense, you know, this is a masterstroke, a political masterstroke by the TVK.
06:42How is this a masterstroke when their candidate is someone that left from a party for which the
06:50people of Darapuram have already voted?
06:51They get their numbers up without having to rely on other parties. Anti-incumbency hasn't
06:56swept in yet. So they have that, you know, positive, that plus on their side. You have
07:02a chief minister, Vijay, campaigning there. Look at the kind of crowds that have gathered.
07:06There's nothing really that goes against the TVK here, except for the sentiment that you're
07:10referring to. And is that enough for the DMK to really go up?
07:14See, the way I look at it, that this election is going to be a close call, OK? I'm not
07:19saying
07:19that the DMK has it in the hat, but I'm not also going to say that the TVK has it,
07:25right?
07:25Because let's be very real. Even if you're talking about farmer ratios, for that matter
07:28of fact, Lakshita, this government promises a 100% waiver on cooperative loans. What do
07:34they eventually do? A 75,000 rupees cap on five-acre loans. So there are multiple promises
07:40that this government has given to the people of Darapuram, to the people of Madhulantakam,
07:45to the people of Tamil Nadu, and they have not followed through on it. So those promises
07:48and that anti-incumbency is definitely going to show in the by-election. Let's be very
07:53real. This by-election, people are upset with Ms. Satya Bama.
07:57OK.
07:58It is, you're seeing images, you're seeing videos of people protesting against her.
08:02Last word, Mr. I agree. I've seen those videos. I've seen those videos. Mr. Satya Kumar,
08:08final word to you, sir. There's been a lot of criticism and I'm going to let you answer
08:12this once and for all. There's been a lot of questions, criticism, the AI, DMK, DMK sharing
08:15these clips of Chief Minister Vijay suggesting that the TVK and BJP are in cohoots. Is that
08:22a slip of tongue, sir? Was it intentional? Why don't you explain to us?
08:27So, I don't think... Just a second. Can you repeat the question, Akshita? There's some
08:31disturbance.
08:34There's a video, sir. There's a video that the AI, DMK, DMK are sharing widely suggesting
08:39that Chief Minister Vijay has referred to a DVK-BJP alliance.
08:46Never. Never it is possible.
08:48Have you seen the video?
08:51I've not seen the video, but if that video could be an AI video also, I'll just check it
08:55because I'm cautious because I'm not seeing it.
08:58Two things. Never ever you will say that combination because of a single fact that our political
09:07enemy and ideological enemy, we have identified already. Considering that fact, we are not
09:13in a habit of changing our words and we don't speak in those languages. And accordingly, these
09:18are all conspiracies created by DMK and ADMK surrounding the election. So, I don't think
09:23that should be taken as an official video is my point of view.
09:29Okay. All right. It seemed to be a slip of tongue, but Mr. Satya Kumar, you have also
09:34spoken on that. Thank you for joining us, Mr. Satya Kumar and Akshat Ram. We're days away
09:39from their bipolar in Dharapuram and Madhuran Takam. Will this be a close battle or will the
09:43TVK manage to... Will they have this in the back? Well, they're counting on it because they
09:47need their numbers to go up and therefore not be as reliant as they are on other parties,
09:51on allies for support to stay in power. We're going to track very closely that big political
09:57fight. Thanks once again for joining us.
