Unmindful of Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalithaa’s exhortation to her partymen to gift her 40 Lok Sabha seats in the next general elections, her principal opponent, the DMK, is gearing up quietly to upstage her at the hustings by forming a formidable alliance. It is to be noted that alliance alone had decided the winner in successive elections since 2001.
According to sources, the DMK considers the break in relations between the AIADMK and the DMDK of Vijayakanth as a blessing in disguise as that has now thrown open the possibility of forging new tieups for the Lok Sabha polls. Sources say that after the sharp exchange of acrimony between Ms Jayalalithaa and Mr Vijayakanth, the DMDK would naturally veer towards the DMK if it hopes to open its account in the general elections. It cannot even think of securing its deposit if it were to contest alone for the Lower House of Parliament, sources said. DMK-DMDK-Congress would be a powerful coalition in the state if one were to go by the vote share of each of these parties, sources added.
The DMK enjoys a vote share of around 25 per cent, the DMDK around 11 per cent and the Congress around 10 per cent. But the vote share of all these three parties had gone down in the last Assembly polls. The DMK had polled 22.38 per cent of votes, the DMDK had registered 7.88 per cent and the Congress 9.3 per cent, respectively. Also, the DMDK was part of the AIADMK-led group in the 2011 Assembly polls. But in the 2006 Assembly polls and the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, the DMDK had secured 8.5 per cent and 10.5 per cent of votes, respectively.
The DMK also is hoping to convert the anti-Jayalalithaa mood that is slowly taking shape on the power crisis front in its favour. In the run-up to the last Assembly polls, Ms Jayalalithaa had promised to set right the power scenario if voted to power and her dilly-dallying in dealing with the Koodankulam agitators had only irked the people more. But DMK sources also concede that the AIADMK would easily triumph in the forthcoming Sankarankovil bypolls.