With the festivities associated with Pongal coming to a conclusion on Thursday marking the end of the festival season of 2018 to 2019, Tamil Nadu is in electoral mission as far as cobbling up alliances for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections is concerned. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah are expected in the State in the coming weeks which would mark the commencement of the count-down for the mega election.
Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswamy who was away in his village in Edappadi in Salem district for the Pongal festival was busy giving shape to the alliance to be formed by the AIADMK. On Friday, Piyush Goyal, Union Minister for power, who has been designated as the party-in-charge for Tamil Nadu is calling on the AIADMK leadership in Chennai for alliance talks. He will also meet leaders of all parties in the State except Vaiko of the MDMK which were part of the NDA in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Vaiko has jumped fence since then and is with the DMK bandwagon which is having an edge over others in the battlefront as on date.
While small parties like India Jananayaka Katchi led by Patchamuthu, chancellor of SRM University have decided to continue in the NDA camp, what is being watched with interest is the talks between the BJP and the PMK. Though there were reports that the PMK may switch over to the DMK camp, sources in the Dravidian party said that party president M K Stalin does not like the father-son duo. “The articulation and erudition of Dr Anbumani Ramadoss is being seen as a threat not only to Stalin but to Udhayanidhi Stalin, his son and possible heir apparent to the DMK,” said a senior DMK leader.
Vijayakanth, leader of the DMDK, is seriously ill and has been admitted to a hospital in a foreign country. The family members of Vijayakanth doubt Stalin as the reason behind many senior leaders of the DMDK crossing over to the DMK, the former may not welcome any overtures from the DMK camp. Moreover with Vijayakanth remaining out of public sight for more than a a year, the fortunes of the party formed by him too is in its lowest ebb, says party insiders. This may make the Vijayakanth family, especially wife Premalatha Vijayakanth opt for the BJP-led camp. Premalatha is sure that the BJP would not try to split the DMDK. Moreover, PM Modi congratulating the hard work she did during the 2014 campaign is still fresh in the minds of the DMDK cadre and the family.