Political pundits of Tamil Nadu are waiting with bated breath for Saturday’s rally to be addressed by film actor-turned-politician Vijayakanth at Kancheepuram where he is expected to announce his plans for the upcoming Assembly elections.
The importance of the “Turning Point Conference in Tamil Nadu Politics” organised at the Temple City by the DMDK could be understood from the fact that all major parties in the State sans the AIADMK are anxiously waiting for the announcement to be made by Captain, as Vijayakanth is addressed by his cadre. Though he commands just nine per cent of the votes in the State, parties like the DMK, the BJP and the left have been waiting for months for the course of action to be taken by Vijayakanth for the Assembly elections which are round the corner.
No less a person than Karunanidhi, the DMK chief, invited Vijayakanth many times to join the DMK-led alliance. The Congress and the left are courting him on a daily basis while the BJP leaders of Tamil Nadu make it a point to call on him at least once in a week. The only party which has ignored him and the DMDK is AIADMK. Not without reason; Vijayakanth has declared that his only mission is to defeat the AIADMK and its supreme leader J Jayalalithaa.
Though Premalatha, wife of Vijayakanth, has ruled out any kind of alliance with the DMK, some political analysts with DMK leanings believe that a marriage of convenience is still possible between Captain and Dr Kalaignar (as Karunanidhi is known among the DMK cadre).
During the last three months, Vijayakanth has made it clear that he would not align with both the Dravidian majors, the DMK and the AIADMK. “Both the AIADMK and the DMK are highly intolerant of criticism. Jayalalithaa will strike directly. That credit I give her. Karunanidhi will embrace you first and then strike,” Vijayakanth had told reporters in November 2015. Replying to a question about the possibilities of his party aligning with the DMK, the Captain was quick to retort;” When you step on quicksand, you will go down. This is the case with bringing the DMK back. I have taken a different route. I am very clear that we will not align with the DMK or the AIADMK. When we no longer trust Karunanidhi himself, how could we trust StalinIJ The DMDK will fight both the parties and will bring a major change in Tamil Nadu,” Vijayakanth had said in November 2015.
The DMDK had made it clear that the party would lead any alliance which accepts Vijayakanth as the chief ministerial candidate. With the DMK having announced Karunanidhi as the Chief Ministerial candidate, the question being asked is whether Vijayakanth would be willing to play second fiddle to the Dravidian major in the backdrop of speculations that he may cast his lots with the DMK.
At no point of time Tamil Nadu politics has seen this much suspense and anxiety about the course of action to be taken by a party which boasts of hardly nine per cent of the popular votes. This has ,made February 20 a Super Saturday or a kind of Derby Day.