Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi founder and Chidambaram MP Thol. Thirumavalavan was among the delegation of the opposition led INDIA bloc to visit Manipur on Sunday to assess the situation that has seen continuing ethnic violence between the Meitei and Kuki communities.
Meanwhile, Mr. Thirumavalavan on Sunday announced a list of VCK district secretaries and office-bearers from the lower levels of the party structure who will be in-charge for the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha and 2026 State Assembly elections.
VCK headquarters secretary Balasingham said the party had introduced 10% reservations for women and 10% reservations for non-Dalits and 25% of the total number of posts would be reserved for youth. “Perhaps for the first time in India, a party has reserved important party positions for women and youth,” he said.
“Despite its Dalit leadership, the party has set aside 10% of the party posts for non-Dalits. I don’t think any democratic political party or democratic movement in India such as Dravidian parties or Communists have done something like this,” he further said.
Mr. Balasingam said 14 women had been appointed as district secretaries out of a total of 144 and 17 non-Dalits had been appointed as district secretaries. He hoped that the VCK’s decision to reserve party positions for women and non-Dalits would put pressure on other political parties in Tamil Nadu, and eventually across India, to do the same.
“Scheduled Caste representation in Dravidian parties is very less. There is only one SC district secretary among 62 or so district secretaries in the DMK. In the AIADMK, there are very few as well. This decision will push other parties to ensure more equitable representation for disadvantaged communities,” he added.
