MDMK to contest on separate symbol: Vaiko

CHENNAI: Rejecting rumours that MDMK would contest the ensuing assembly polls on DMK’s Rising Sun symbol as it did during the 2019 Lok Sabha election, party general secretary Vaiko said on Saturday that the party would contest on the symbol allotted to it.

When asked whether all allies of the DMK would contest in its ‘Rising Sun’ symbol, Vaiko retorted that these were hypothetical questions, insisting that there have not been any such discussions. “MDMK will maintain its identity and would contest the polls on a separate symbol allotted for it,” Vaiko said while speaking to reporters after a party function in Chennai on Saturday.

The party would continue in the DMK-led alliance like in the Lok Sabha polls and would work for its victory, he said, and added that a government headed by the DMK would come to power in the State after the 2021 Assembly election. “There is no change in our stand and there is no difference of opinion among allies,” Vaiko added.

The speculation about allies contesting on DMK’s symbol came about after political strategy consultant I-PAC advised it to limit the number of seats allotted to alliance partners – one way to work around it is to make their candidate contest on its symbol, as was done in last general election.

After Vaiko broke away from the DMK and floated MDMK, the party had initially contested on umbrella symbol and later on the ‘top’ symbol. But it the Election Commission’s recognition following a streak of poor performance in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and 2016 assembly polls where it did not garner the requisite six per cent of the total votes.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, MDMK had contested from Erode Lok Sabha seat but on Rising Sun symbol.

The MDMK leader made it clear that they would continue in DMK alliance but the current decision was to maintain the identity of their party