In a major jolt to Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) chief T.T.V. Dhinakaran, former minister and AMMK senior leader V. Senthil Balaji formally joined the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on Friday. The suspended MLA from the Aravakurichi constituency was considered as one of the trusted lieutenants of Dhinakaran and a master strategist who organised most of Dhinakaran’s rallies in the last one year.
Speculations over Balaji defecting from the AMMK have been rife for two weeks, since Balaji failed to attend the silent march organised by Dhinakaran on December 5, commemorating Jayalalithaa’s death anniversary. Balaji’s defection to the DMK made headlines in the newspapers in Tamil Nadu, while AMMK’s Thanga Tamil Selvan, in a press conference said the media reports of Balaji’s defection are wrong. “The AIADMK under coordinator O. Panneerselvam and joint coordinator Edappadi K. Palanisamy is a sinking ship. I have joined the DMK as M.K. Stalin is the only leader who can oppose the BJP at the Centre and take the state forward,” Balaji said.
However, Dhinakaran seems to be unperturbed by the defection. In a statement issued on Thursday, Dhinakaran said, “those who defect to other parties on their self interest are not a source of concern for the AMMK.” In a press conference after Bajali formally joined the DMK, he said, “He went to the DMK for his own interests. Can he now talk about Amma or MGR?” he asked.
Balaji considered a staunch Jayalalithaa loyalist and a leader close to the Mannargudi family, played a crucial role in Dhinakaran's electoral victory in R.K. Nagar bypolls. While Balaji rescued his own political career by choosing DMK over Dhinakaran and AIADMK, sources say, the DMK has hopes to exploit his popularity and influence among Gounder community in Karur. However, Karur, a Lok Sabha constituency in West Tamil Nadu, encloses four assembly constituencies, and one of this is the Aravakurichi constituency. It is from Aravakuriichi, Balaji contested in 2016, where elections were countermanded because of money distribution and later went to bypolls in November 2016 when Jayalalithaa was hospitalised. Balaji, who was first part of Vaiko’s MDMK and then part of DMK in the late 90s, later moved to the AIADMK in the early 2000s and chose to side with rebel leader Dhinakaran. “This is neither a minus for TTV nor a plus for the DMK. Balaji is not the person, who will make Stalin a strong leader. Stalin is already an established leader and a strong chief ministerial candidate. All along his electoral career, Balaji has got votes of Jayalalithaa or the votes of MGR in the AIADMK. He is a local leader and commands a small faction in his constituency,” tells Tharasu Shyam, a senior journalist.
DMK already has a strong base in Karur, where K.C. Palanisamy commands a vote bank and he is considered one of the money bags of the grand old Dravidian party. Sources say, the DMK might face the difficulty of sharing power among its existing strong factors in Karur. Also, Balaji carries the shadow of being a tainted leader, as the DMK itself accused him for distributing money during elections in 2016. Again he came under the I-T scanner in 2017, when the Income Tax sleuths knocked at his doors.
On the other hand, Dhinakaran, who was emerging as a leader, seems to be losing the political game. In fact his downfall began after all the 18 rebel MLAs lost in the court. Sources say, most of the MLAs are upset as they lost their position for taking sides with Dhinakaran. Also, the Dhinakaran faction did not grow big, after his sole victory in R.K. Nagar in 2017. “We are ready to accept all the 18 MLAs and whoever went away from the parent party, except Dhinakaran,” said Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palanisami when asked about a possible AIADMK and AMMK merger a few days before. Apparently, talks of a merger and defections have been doing rounds for the past few days.
