In a blow to the NDA in Tamil Nadu ahead of the Assembly polls, the political party founded by actor-turned-politician Vijayakanth walked out of the alliance on Tuesday.
Vijayakanth's Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) had been in talks with the AIADMK on number of seats it would contest as part of the NDA. In a statement, Vijayakanth said, “The AIADMK refused to allot the requested numbers of the seats and the demanded seats. So as the negotiations did not reach a desired conclusion and since all of DMDK district secretaries reached a decision, DMDK has decided to quit AIADMK and DMDK alliance from March 9.”
Last week, DMDK deputy general secretary and Vijayakanth's brother-in-law L.K. Sudheesh had tweeted, "“Vijayakanth is our Chief Minister… Murasu is our symbol… DMDK party flag is our flag..” The post had triggered speculation the DMDK could leave the NDA.
On Tuesday, Sudheesh declared the DMDK cadres would work to ensure defeat of the AIADMK in all 234 constituencies. The DMDK claimed it was offered fewer seats than the PMK, which was allotted 23 seats though it had smaller vote share. The DMDK laid the blame for the rift with the NDA on AIADMK coordinator K.P. Munusamy, who Sudheesh described as the PMK's "sleeper cell" in the AIADMK.
The DMDK declared it was strong in 41 constituencies of North and South Tamil Nadu.
According to reports, the DMDK had initially wanted to contest in 41 of 234 seats in the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, a demand opposed by the AIADMK. Talks between the AIADMK and DMDK had broken down, though they resumed on Saturday, with Vijayakanth's party scaling down expected number of seats to 23. The AIADMK had allotted 23 seats to the PMK and 20 the BJP.
Vijayakanth's wife and party treasurer Premalatha and his son Vijay Prabhakaran had submitted applications to contest in the coming Assembly polls.
The DMDK had recorded its best performance in the Tamil Nadu Assembly polls in 2011 when it won 29 seats in alliance with the AIADMK and Vijayakanth became leader of opposition. However, the party failed to win any seat in the 2016 polls when it led an alliance of smaller parties.
(With inputs from Lakshmi Subramanian)
