Actor-turned-politician Vijayakanth’s Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) quit the AIADMK-BJP alliance ahead of the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, on Tuesday, 9 March.
The party, which had been holding extended discussions with the AIADMK over seat allocation said that the exit from the alliance happened because of the non-allocation of expected seats or constituencies.
According to The News Minute, Vijayakanth said, “In the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections 2021, the DMDK held talks with the AIADMK in three sittings. 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, the DMDK has decided to quit AIADMK and DMDK alliance from March 9.”
Seat-Sharing Talks Fall Apart
On Saturday, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) had resumed talks with the party after the DMDK scaled down its request to 23 seats, down from its original demand of 41. However, the ruling party was reportedly only willing to offer the DMDK a maximum of 15 seats.
The DMDK’s present request for seat allocation was in order to put it on par with the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) in the alliance, reported The News Minute.
According to The News Minute, on Monday, the AIADMK had reportedly offered the party 12 Assembly seats.
DMDK’s Road So Far
DMDK’s high point was during the 2011 Assembly elections during which it had partnered with the J Jayalalithaa-fronted AIADMK and contested polls from 41 seats. DMDK enjoyed a significant victory in 23 seats of the 41.
However, in the 2016 elections, the DMDK under the Makkal Nala Kootani (People's Welfare Alliance) fought against the AIADMK and DMK, contesting from 105 seats. However, it failed to win in any.
Later, in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the DMDK joined the AIADMK’s National Democratic Alliance, which is why the AIADMK wished to continue its alliance with DMDK this time around.
While it is still unclear if Vijayakanth will contest the polls, his wife and party treasurer Premalatha and his son Vijay Prabhakaran have submitted applications to fight in the elections, added The News Minute.
(With inputs from The News Minute.)
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