The BJP has added another ally to its count. In Tamil Nadu, the party has reached an agreement to fight the April 26 lok Sabha election with the regional DMDK, headed by actor-turned-politician Vijaykanth, popularly known as “Captain”.
According to insiders in the BJP, the DMDK will contest 14 of the 39 parliamentary seats at stake from Tamil Nadu. The BJP has already tied up with the MDMK and is negotiating with PMK, another prominent regional party. Though the BJP is yet to officially announce the number of seats it has allocated to its allies, a senior party leader told The Pioneer that by Monday everything would be clear. Former State president of the BJP, l Ganeshan, said the details of the constituencies to be contested by the allies would be announced by party’s all India president Rajnath Singh in a function to be held at Chennai shortly.
The DMDK , formed in 2005, has emerged as a major player in Tamil Nadu politics and commands eight to nine per cent popular votes. Though it contested the 2009 lok Sabha election alone, the party drew a blank. But the Assembly election in 2011 saw the DMDK joining hands with the AIADMK and the alliance routed the DMK at the hustings.
The DMDK won 29 seats and Vijayakanth became the leader of the Opposition. But the party suffered a setback as eight MlAs switched over to the AIADMK camp and the presidium chairman Panrutti Ramachandran quit the party over differences with Vijayakanth.
The discussions between the BJP and the DMDK were like a roller-coaster ride for both the parties. There were instances when the local media reported about the break down in the talks and the alliance coming a cropper. But with Friday's meeting between the leaders of the BJP and the DMDK, the alliance is back on track.
The PMK, a political outfit of the powerful Vanniyar community has strong presence in northern Tamil Nadu. The PMK's association with the BJP dated back to 1998 when it was a constituent of the National democratic Alliance. Both the PMK and the MDMK were with the NDA till 2004.
The chemistry between the BJP and the PMK was made known by Ganeshan on Friday when he said Dr Ramdoss, the founder of the PMK was the first non-BJP leader to welcome the choice of Narendra Modi as the BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate.
One of the PMK leaders said there was no ambiguity about the party’s stance towards BJP. “We are in the NDA and other things are being worked out,” he said.
Congress political untouchable in TNIJ
Chennai: An eerie of silence pervades all over Satyamoorthy Bhavan, the headquarters of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee at Chennai. The building which used to bustle with hundreds of people have fallen silent and no leaders are to be seen anywhere.
Of all the major political parties in the State, the Congress has fallen to bad times. The party has become the new political untouchables in Tamil Nadu. Though the election to the lok Sabha is hardly a month away, no parties in the State have approached the Congress for a possible alliance.
All major players in Tamil Nadu politics barring the Congress have completed seat negotiations and are in full campaign mode. But Congress leaders in Tamil Nadu are in the dark about the parties with which they have to align. “I am totally in the dark about what is happening in the Congress. The central leadership has not given any directive or guidance about what has to be done. The party is in a pretty bad situation in Tamil Nadu,” a former TNCC chief who was also a Union Minister told The Pioneer.
The Muslim league, a long-time ally of the Congress, is with the DMK in Tamil Nadu. Interestingly, the Congress-led United Democratic Front Government in neighbouring Kerala is propped up by the Muslim league. But in Tamil Nadu, the Congress is untouchables to the league. E Ahmed, Muslim league leader and a Minister of State in the Union Council of Ministers led by Manmohan Singh does not speak to Congress leaders in Tamil Nadu. It was Ahmed who played a crucial role in negotiating with the DMKl leadership to allocate the Vellore lok Sabha constituency to the Muslim league.
Though the Congress plays servile to the Muslim league, the league leaders have total contempt for India’s Grand Old Party. No efforts have been made by the league leaders in Tamil Nadu to include the Congress in the DMK-led front where all communal and extremist outfits have been accommodated. A young leader in TNCC said the present state of affairs in the party is because of the arrogance of the Congress leadership in New Delhi. “Congress has been made irrelevant in Tamil Nadu by these leaders,” said the depressed leader.
Old times point out that Tamil Nadu along with Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh had always given a helping hand to the Congress at all times. “When the Congress was routed in North India in the 1977 elections, the southern States contributed maximum seats to its kitty. But the High Command failed to woo any regional players in the run-up to the 2014 election,” said N Kalyanasundaram, a Congress watcher in Tamil Nadu for more than five decades. Friday saw leaders of the PMK being given a rousing reception at Kamalalayam, the headquarters of Tamil Nadu BJP. By evening, a BJP delegation left to the office of Vijayalkanth’s DMDK in the city suburbs.