The AIADMK which staged a ‘coup’ on Tuesday by roping in the PMK to its fold for facing the Lok Sabha election, came across an unexpected road block by Thursday as Vijayakanth of the DMDK demanded seven constituencies for his party to fight the election.
Vijayakanth has reportedly told the AIADMK representative who called on him that during the 2014 Lok Sabha election, his party was allocated 14 seats by the BJP while the PMK was given only seven seats. The AIADMK had signed a deal with the PMK on Tuesday allocating seven seats and a Rajya Sabha seat for the Vanniyar dominated party.
While the AIADMK had smooth negotiations with the PMK and the BJP, Vijayakanth is proving himself to be a tough nut. The situation turned curious on Thursday as S Thirunavakarassar, the former TNCC president called on the actor-turned-politician at the latter’s residence in Chennai.
The Congress leader who spent nearly 30 minutes with the actor and his family later told reporters that his visit was to wish Vijayakanth best of health and a speedy recovery. “We spoke politics also and I requested him to take a decision keeping the national interests in mind,” he said.
Sources close to the actor said that Vijyakanth has some “accounts to settle” with the AIADMK, which he claims was instrumental in decimating his outfit after the 2011 assembly election. The DMDK which contested the 2011 assembly election as an ally of the AIADMK had won 29 seats and Vijayakanth was the Leader of the Opposition. But 14 MLAs belonging to the DMDK switched over to the AIADMK camp. Vijayakanth believes that it was at the instance of Jayalalithaa, the then chief minister that the MLAs ditched him.
If the AIADMK parts with seven seats to the DMDK, the ruling party would be left with just 19 seats. There are parties like Puthiya Tamilakam, TMC and fringe parties which too have to be accommodated in the front, which is causing anxiety to the AIADMK leadership.
The DMK had on Wednesday allocated nine seats in Tamil Nadu and the lone seat in Puducherry to the Congress.