AIADMK seals pact with PMK, in talks with BJP
The Election Commission of India’s announcement of April 6 as the date for elections in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry had triggered hectic discussions on seat sharing between the various parties in the two major alliances led by the Dravidian majors, DMK and AIADMK.
Also the possibility of the third coalition emerging was visible with the actor Sarathkumar’s All India Samathuva Makkal Katchi calling on Makkal Needhi Miaam (MNM) founder Kamal Haasan and exploring the potential for a third front in Tamil Nadu. Sarathkumar claimed that the AIADMK did not even call the party for talks.
Leader of the India Janayaka Katchi (IJK), who are now part of the DMK-led coalition, are also negotiating with the MNM for an alliance as the party is peeved over the less number of seats offered. Similarly, the DMDK, founded by actor Vijayakanth, is also pissed off with the AIADMK and organized a protest against the hike in petrol and diesel prices. But later on top leaders of the AIADMK called on the party leader Vijaykanth to appease him and request him to continue with the alliance.
The PMK, an ally of the AIADMK, was the only party that finalised its alliance by agreeing for 23 seats, which would be identified later on, and thanking the ruling for bringing in the 10.5 per
cent reservation for the Vanniyar community.
The meeting between the PMK and AIADMK, held at a star hotel in Chennai, was attended by top leaders of the PMK like Anbumani Ramadoss, G.K. Mani, A. K. Moorthy and Advocate Balu and the top honchos of the AIADMK-led by party coordinator O. Panneerselvam and cocoordinator Edappadi K. Palaniswami.
The two parties are fighting an Assembly election together after 2001, pointed out Anbumani Ramadoss, who said that the PMK agreed for lesser number of seats because the 10.5 per cent exclusive reservation for Vanniyars was announced by the AIADMK government in the Assembly.
He also assured that the PMK would strive for the victory of the alliance in the elections and urged his followers to work towards that.
In the DMK camp, the talks with the Congress have been put on hold as the TNCC leaders have rushed to southern Tamil Nadu in view of Rahul Gandhis’ visit.