TVK's CTR Nirmal Kumar confident of facing polls anytime, objects to PM Modi's Thiruparankundram visit

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], March 2 (ANI): Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) Joint General Secretary CTR Nirmal Kumar on Monday expressed confidence about facing the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, stating that party cadres are fully prepared.
"We are 100 per cent confident. Anytime the elections are announced, the cadres are very confident to face elections, campaign, and support the candidates announced by our leader," he told the media.
Objecting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit to Thiruparankundram, Kumar said his party did not want the temple town to be turned into a "complicated issue."
"Yesterday we saw that PM Modi came to Thiruparankundram. As a party, we object to it because we don't want Thiruparankundram to be seen as a complicated issue... We definitely object to such an approach by the BJP. We should change such a religious approach... BJP should stop this in Tamil Nadu. People of Tamil Nadu will not like it," Kumar said.
He also criticised the ruling DMK government, stating that Chief Minister M K Stalin, who oversees law and order, should have attempted to prevent the programme.
"MK Stalin, who has control of law and order, should have at least tried to stop this program long back because they had brought the intimation that the PM is going to visit Thiruparankundram town. They should have given some advisory note to PMO and approached the Court to stop this program," he added.
On the party's manifesto, Kumar said it is being prepared after consultations with various sections of society. "Our leader is preparing the manifesto after having discussions with several sections of people... Whatever our leader announces will be 100 per cent people's agenda and the people's manifesto. Once it is finalised, our leader will announce it," he said.
Meanwhile, after former AIADMK leader O Panneerselvam joined the DMK camp, Tamil Nadu BJP President Nainar Nagendran called it his "personal choice.
Nagendran said, "It is entirely O Panneerselvam's personal choice as to whom he wants to form an alliance with. I cannot give an answer for that. I do not know why O. Panneerselvam met MK Stalin. Whether he met him as a courtesy call or to discuss allying, I am not aware. If a proper explanation comes regarding that meeting, then we can speak about."
The 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly will go to the polls in the first half of 2026, where the MK Stalin-led alliance will look to project the 'Dravidian Model 2.0' for the win against the BJP-AIADMK alliance. Actor-turned-politician Vijay's entry with his Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) is expected to turn the Tamil Nadu polls into a three-way contest.
In the 2021 polls, the DMK won 133 seats in the 2021 Assembly polls. Congress won 18, PMK won five, VCK won four, and others won eight seats. The Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA), led by DMK, which consisted of Congress, won 159 seats collectively.
While the NDA won 75 seats, the AIADMK emerged as the largest party in the alliance with 66 seats. (ANI)