BackDMK reaches out to MDMK’s Vaiko
It could be with an eye on Assembly polls due in 2016, analysts said
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Chennai: The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) is trying to woo fellow-opposition party, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), in Tamil Nadu in an opportunistic move following the recent conviction of former chief minister J. Jayalalithaa.
It could be with an eye on Assembly polls due in 2016, analysts said.
Ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) chief Jayalalithaa was sentenced to four years of imprisonment and ₹ 100 crore fine in the disproportionate assets case, prompting rival DMK to hunt for alliances in order to bolster its position.
“I will be happy if a new alliance emerges with the MDMK," said M. Karunanidhi, chief of the DMK, at his residence on Thursday. The MDMK is an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the state.
The DMK was decimated in the recent Lok Sabha elections by the AIADMK, which won 37 of 39 parliamentary constituencies in Tamil Nadu. In the Assembly elections of 2011, the DMK could not even manage to emerge as the main opposition as it was crushed by the Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK, which won 191 of the 234 Assembly seats. The fledging Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) won 26 seats and is currently the chief opposition party.
The DMK’s defeat has been seen attributed to its leader and former Union telecom minister A. Raja’s and Karunanidhi’s daughter Kanimozhi’s alleged involvement in the case related to irregularities in the 2008 allocation of second-generation (2G) spectrum.
On Wednesday, DMK treasurer M.K. Stalin reached out to MDMK’s general secretary Vai Gopalsamy (popularly called Vaiko) and political commentators said this may result in an alliance for the 2016 Assembly elections. Two decades ago, Vaiko was expelled from the DMK for dissent, as Karunanidhi supported his son Stalin’s rise. Vaiko established MDMK with support of DMK district secretaries and partnered with the Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Janata Dal during the 1996 Assembly election but drew a blank.
“Vaiko is my friend and not my enemy," said the DMK patriarch. He said the general council of the DMK will decide on matters relating to alliances with political parties.
“DMK is desperate to consolidate its position," said Gnani Sankaran, a political commentator. With just a year-and-a-half to go for the Assembly elections and not being in power in either the state or at the Centre, the Dravidian party is all out to make use of every opportunity that comes its way, he added.
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