A decision on which way the Vijayakanth-led Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) will lean ahead of the Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu continues to hang fire, with a meeting between him and BJP leader Prakash Javadekar being described as a courtesy call.

After an hour-long meeting with Vijayakanth at his residence on Sunday, Javadekar said they will meet again. The discussions were a part of a series of meetings he had held with the NDA alliance partners, who had come together during the 2014 Parliamentary elections, the BJP leader said.

Javadekar declined to elaborate further, and only said that more talks are being planned within the next few days after the Budget on Monday. Over the last 24 hours, he had met the NDA alliance partners and after further rounds of talks he said that “we can think of a strategy to fight Tamil Nadu Assembly elections”.

‘People deserve better’

The minister said that over the last 50 years, the people of Tamil Nadu had seen the same politics pursued by different parties. The people “deserve much better”. Tamil Nadu has benefitted from the change at the Centre with the Narendra Modi-led BJP coming to power.

With the Budget to be presented on Monday, people can look forward to more schemes and programmes that benefit them, he added.

The DMDK’s decision on who it partners with is a key move in the Tamil Nadu elections. In the 2011 Assembly elections, it partnered with the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and won 29 of the 41 seats it contested.

But it subsequently fell out with the AIADMK. It displaced the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), to emerge the main Opposition in the Assembly.

Lok Sabha elections 2014

In the 2014 Parliamentary elections, it tied up with the BJP as part of the NDA alliance but failed to make a mark as it did not win in any of the 14 constituencies it contested. However, the DMDK is seen as an important counter to the major Dravidian parties, the DMK and the AIADMK. For the BJP, an alliance with the DMDK is important to gain a foothold in the State, where the two Dravidian parties have so far held sway. The DMK, which revived ties with the Congress for the coming elections, has also extended an invitation to Vijayakanth.

Another alliance, the Peoples Welfare Front, which consists of the Vaiko-led MDMK, the communist parties and the VCK, is also wooing the DMDK.

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