Chennai: Former deputy general secretary of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and son-in-law of lottery baron Santiago Martin, Aadhav Arjuna, officially joined the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) Friday in the presence of its president Vijay at the party office in Chennai.
Along with Aadhav Arjuna, former IT wing coordinator of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) Nirmal Kumar and YouTuber and orator Rajmohan also joined the TVK.
Aadhav Arjuna was appointed the general secretary (elections), according to a statement posted by Vijay on social media platform X. It is the highest post in the party after the president.
— TVK Vijay (@tvkvijayhq) January 31, 2025
Invest in Trusted Journalism
Your support helps us deliver unbiased, on-the-ground reporting, in-depth interviews and insightful opinions that matter.
Before the announcement was made, a TVK functionary, adding that the decision was taken after Aadhav Arjuna met Vijay at his Chennai residence on 28 January, said, “Presently, a long-time associate of Vijay, N. Anand, is holding the post of general secretary in the party, and the general secretary (elections) will be on par with that post.”
“It was a 40-minute conversation, during which they spoke about poll management and preparing the party’s structure ahead of the 2026 assembly elections,” the functionary said. “He will be working as a strategist for the election as well.”
At the time, spokesperson D. Jagadeeswaran confirmed that a top post, nearly equal to the general secretary, is being given to Aadhav Arjuna.
Meanwhile, Nirmal Kumar was made the deputy general secretary and Rajmohan got the post of propaganda secretary.
Also Read: Vijay’s TVK is honing in on the Christian minority vote, but can he wrest it from ruling DMK
Will be working on 2026 elections
A source, who works closely with Aadhav Arjuna, confirmed that he will be working with political consultant Jhon Arokiasamy for the 2026 assembly elections.
Arokiasamy has been working with Vijay ever since the actor announced his entry into politics. It was his consultancy, JPAC Persona, that organised Vijay’s first-ever political conference in Kallakurichi on 27 October 2024.
“Since Aadhav Arjuna will have a party position as well, he will have more say over Jhon Arokiasamy,” the source said.
The source added that more prominent political figures from various parties were likely to join TVK after Aadhav Arjuna’s appointment was officially announced by Vijay.
Aadhav Arjuna, the founder of political consultancy firm Voice of Commons, was suspended from the VCK for six months on 9 December 2024, for sharing a stage with Vijay during the launch of a book on B.R. Ambedkar and speaking against the interests of the party.
Days after being suspended, he resigned from the party on 15 December and announced that he would continue his political journey.
There were speculations that the Voice of Commons would be working for the AIADMK in the lead-up to the 2026 elections.
“As he had promised to bring in Vijay, we were considering him as a potential option. But, he was also demanding a post in the party, which was not possible. So, we could not accommodate him,” a former senior AIADMK minister told ThePrint.
ThePrint also reached out to Aadhav Arjuna for comment via calls and text messages. The article will be updated as and when a response is received.
Joined VCK in 2024
Aadhav Arjuna was born in Trichy, Tamil Nadu, in 1982 to a farmer father and a homemaker mother. After his mother passed away, he was raised by his stepmother, Thilagavathi—the first female Indian Police Service (IPS) officer from Tamil Nadu.
He has a Master’s degree in political science from Madras Christian College, Chennai. He is married to the daughter of Santiago Martin, known as the lottery king. Martin was a major donor to the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) through electoral bonds and has maintained strong connections with the DMK’s founding family since the time of former chief minister M. Karunanidhi.
In 2014, Aadhav Arjuna began collaborating with the DMK on election strategies. Sources within the DMK confirmed that it was Aadhav Arjuna who introduced poll strategist Sunil Kanugolu and, subsequently, Prashant Kishor of the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) to develop strategies for the DMK’s campaigns in the 2019 Lok Sabha and 2021 assembly elections.
Later, he worked with the socio-political research organisation Populus Empowerment Network (PEN), established by Sabareesan, the son-in-law of DMK leader M.K. Stalin. In 2024, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Aadhav Arjuna left PEN to officially join the VCK, taking up the role of deputy general secretary.
During the 2021 assembly elections, the VCK allied with the ruling DMK and contested six seats of which it won four with a vote share of 0.99 percent. Last year, it contested from two Lok Sabha seats and won both, achieving a 2.25 percent vote share and earning the recognition of a state party.
In addition to his political role, Aadhav Arjuna started his own political consultancy, Voice of Commons, which played a crucial role in organising two significant conferences for VCK, one of which was on 2 October and focused on total prohibition. He is also the president of the Basketball Federation of India.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
Also Read: Periyar bashing gained NTK’s Seeman an unlikely ally in BJP. But will it yield electoral gains
