Just prior to the 2014 general election, I interviewed VCK Deputy General Secretary J. Gowtham Sannah in a shared law office at Madras High Court. Casually perched on a rolling chair behind a cluttered desk, his silhouette was set against a towering bookshelf featuring an archive of legal volumes intermixed with the conspicuous thick blue tomes of B. R. Ambedkar's collected life works. I posed what I had intended to be a straightforward question about his party's present challenges and its prospects for continued growth. I asked Sannah to discuss the difficulties of merging the VCK, which is often described in popular media as a “Dalit party,” with the “political mainstream” as a “common party.” Sannah's posture immediately stiffened as he shot a wry glance in my direction. Muttering under his breath, he was visibly cross at my choice of the terms “common” and “mainstream,” both of which are often used by political commentators and VCK organizers alike.

Following a protracted silence, Sannah rattled off a barrage of questions. Referring to parties that are widely reputed to draw support from and cater to the interests of particular caste constituencies, he inquired: “Is the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) a common party? And, moreover, tell me, do you think the Marumaralarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) is a common party? What about the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK)? Was the Dravidian movement a common movement?” “Of course not!” he underscored, “they were established on the foundations of specific groups pursuing a greater share of resources. But these parties feel that they alone—as caste Hindus—can raise their voice in the name of what is ‘common’.”