The Pattali Makkal Katchi will be contesting in 10 Lok Sabha seats as part of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA alliance in Tamil Nadu and leaders of both parties signed seat-sharing agreement on Tuesday. The alliance announcement comes hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally in Salem, a stronghold of PMK and home turf of AIADMK leader Edappadi K.Palaniswami.
The high-level committee of PMK met on Monday at its founder Ramadoss’s farmhouse in Tindivanam and finalised an alliance with the BJP for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. BJP State President K. Annamalai, Union Minister L. Murugan and other BJP leaders met with Ramadoss, Party President Anbumani Ramadoss and signed seat-sharing agreement. PMK was part of the AIADMK alliance during the 2021 Assembly polls.
Anbumani Ramadoss on Monday said, “PMK has been part of the NDA alliance at the national level for the past 10 years. PMK took this decision to fulfil the desire of change of the people of Tamil Nadu.” PMK leader said there is hatred amongst people against two Dravidian parties who have ruled the state for 60 years and said the alliance will be a huge success not just in Tamil Nadu but at the national level as well. Anbumani asserted that Modi will return to power for a third time.
The party’s decision has come as a shocker for AIADMK, its former ally.During the 2021 Assembly elections, both PMK and BJP were part of the AIADMK-led alliance. Out of 234 Assembly seats in the state, BJP was allotted 20 and PMK 23 and they won four and five seats respectively. The Vanniyars, a prominent caste in Tamil Nadu which has been fighting for MBC status, form the major vote bank of PMK.
Incidentally, the alliance announcement comes hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s campaign rally in Salem today. The alliance could be detrimental in deciding victory in Lok Sabha seats like Salem, Kirshnagiri, Dharmapuri, Cuddalore, Villupuram, Chidambaram and a few other northern districts of Tamil Nadu.
