There is a rebellion of sorts within the AIADMK camp. Actor Karthik walked out of the Jayalalithaa’s alliance saying that his party had been humiliated while MDMK’s Vaiko is contemplating qui-tting the alliance following the AIADMK’s offer of single-digit seats to his party.
Nadallum Makkal Katchi founder president Karthik says he feels humiliated that Jayalalithaa did not call him for seat-sharing talks despite making him wait for over a month.
“I will form alliance with such other parties and leaders ditched by Jayalalithaa,” he told reporters here. A former Kollywood hero, Karthik enjoys some support among the Thevars in the south, the same vote bank that Ms Jayalalithaa has.
Upset over the AIADMK’s offer of eight seats, MDMK general secretary Vaiko has convened the party’s high level committee on March 19 to decide on whether to continue in the alliance or not. Vaiko’s party had contested 35 seats in 2006 and won six seats but two of the MLAs defected to the ruling party. “We are asking them to allocate 20 to 25 seats but they had offered us only eight seats which is unacceptable,” a senior MDMK leader said.
The leader said cadres were angered over reports that party has been offered only a handful of seats. “We will discuss the humiliation meted out to our party and will take an appropriate decision if the AIADMK does not meet our demand,” the MDMK senior said.
The MDMK’s support base is spread across the state and does not exceed a few thousand votes in each constituency.
If the party decides to go alone, it would have an adverse impact on the AIADMK’s prospects in South Tamil Nadu. The AIADMK has so far allocated 74 seats to its allies including DMDK (41) and Left parties (22).