Chennai: Ahead of the Assembly elections, fissures seem to have erupted between the ruling AIADMK and the DMDK over the seat-sharing pact in Tamil Nadu.
DMDK, which is helmed by the popular actor Vijayakanth has a solid base in various parts of the state. It had a vote share of around 6 per cent in the last Assembly elections. However, following some internal rift and Vijayakanth’s inactiveness has lead to a lull in the party’s overall rating.
Notably, AIADMK and BJP had sought an alliance with the DMDK in the beginning but of late lost the clout in the political hemisphere of the state.
While, the DMDK had demanded 20 seats, the AIADMK, on the other hand, wanted it to settle for 11 seats, which the former rejected leading to a major fissures between the two parties.
The DMDK has now threatened the AIADMK to contest alone if the demand for allotment of 20 seats are not met.
DMDK Treasurer and wife of Vijayakanth, Premalatha Vijayakanth has called upon the AIADMK leadership to allot the party seats at par with the PMK.
The AIADMK had provided 23 seats to the PMK and announced 10.5 per cent jobs reservation for the Vanniyar community in government sectors under the most backward quota, which was being earlier opposed by the DMDK.
L.G. Sudheesh who is the brother-in-law of Vijayajanth while speaking to IANS, said:”We will go it alone in the elections if our demands are not met. 20 seats is not a big demand and we had independently garnered 10.09 per cent in 2009 Lok Sabha elections. We are expecting the AIADMK leadership to understand the ground realities and allocate us the necessary seats so that there is a win-win situation for all”.
However, according to sources, the party may settle for 15 to 16 seats as the brain storming among the leadership has noted that the situation of 2021 is far different from 2009 and that the party is not as powerful as it was in 2009.
In 2006 Assembly elections the party had polled 8.38 per cent votes, while in 2011 it secured 7.9 per cent vote share, winning the 29 of the 41 seats that it had contested. But in 2016 polls DMDK fared poorly and received only 2.6 per cent votes and this is exactly the reason why the AIADMK leadership is keeping its fingers crossed and doing hard bargaining with the DMDK leadership.
Political circles in Tamil Nadu are abuzz with rumours that DMDK has opened a channel with MNM of Tamil screen star turned politician, Kamal Hassan. It is to be known as to where the wind is blowing vis-a-vis the DMDK is concerned and in all probability the party may settle for 15 seats amid negotiations and tall claims.
The 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly will go to the polls in a single phase on April 6. The results will be declared on May 2.
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