Chennai: The voice has changed, but the tone and tenor hasn’t. With MDMK general secretary Vaiko losing in the elections, pro-Tamil and pro-LTTE activists are now looking at Tholkappian Thirumavalavan as the only person left to raise their cause in the Lok Sabha.

Thirumavalavan, a staunch supporter of the LTTE and known as a rabble rouser, won the elections from Chidambaram constituency — his first win in three attempts.

Although Thirumavalavan is known for his strong pro-LTTE speeches that angered Congress leaders, DMK chief M Karunanidhi did not drop his Viduthalai Chiruthaikal Katchi (VCK) from the coalition. His Dalit votes were too valuable.

At 47, Thirumavalavan is young to be an icon for Dalits in Tamil Nadu. In the past two decades, he has emerged as a leader by addressing the inadequacies of Dravidian politics. Beyond the revolutionary social reforms decades ago, Dravidian politics was not able to take the process to the lowest level, leading to a situation where Dalits continued to be oppressed, though this time by the backward communities. This resulted in clashes in the rural hinterland.

In the 1980s, when he was a Government employee, well-known Dalit activist Malaichamy, the then convenor of Dalit Panthers of India (DPI), took him under his wing. After the leader’s death, he was the automatic choice as successor in 1989. It was in the 1990s that he shot to prominence, organising Dalit youth to stop oppression, through muscle if needed. The militant nature of the resistance, in the backdrop of years of silent suffering, soon spread across the state.

In those years, the DPI stayed away from electoral politics, criticising both DMK and AIADMK for exploiting the community’s votes. But realising the difficulty in bringing about a change without participating in the democratic process, Thirumavalavan took the leap and contested as a ‘Third Front’ Independent from Chidambaram in 1999. He lost. It was a repeat in 2004, when he contested as a JD(U) candidate. This time, he beat the PMK’s E Ponnuswamy, the same man who beat him the previous two times.

Between 2006 when he was an ally of the AIADMK-led front and now, the Dalit Panthers became the Liberation Panthers Party (Viduthalai Chiruthaikal Katchi). The outfit is trying to grow out of its Dalit-only tag, sharing dais on every Tamil cause.

Thirumavalavan is unlike the average Tamil politician. Even while addressing the lowest strata of society, this bachelor is always in black trousers with his shirt neatly tucked in. Besides his acerbic speeches, he writes extensively on caste issues and Lankan conflict. He maintains a blog that has links to his speeches hosted on YouTube. He has also acted in two movies, one incidentally as a Lankan militant.