Upset over fewer seat allocation, the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) founded by actor-turned-politician Vijayakant, has opted out of the AIADMK-led alliance for the upcoming Assembly elections to be held on April 6. However, political experts say this may not hurt the alliance, which currently has the PMK and BJP, and talks are on with the smaller parties like Tamil Maanila Congress.

It is learnt that the DMDK had sought seats on par with the PMK (23) but the AIADMK was not willing to give more than 15.

A statement from DMDK on Tuesday said that after three rounds of talks, the party did not get the desired seats. In a meeting, the party’s district secretaries gave a unanimous opinion to opt out of the alliance. Following this, the party has decided to opt out of the AIADMK-BJP alliance, the statement said.

Expert opinions

The AIADMK-led alliance now has PMK as the largest alliance partner with 23 seats, and BJP with 20 seats. The TMC, which may to fight the elections in AIADMK’s Two Leaves’ symbol, is likely to get seats in single digit but the number is yet to be firmed up.

The DMDK leaving the alliance is unlikely to hurt the AIADMK-led alliance considering the founder Vijaykanth’s health conditions, and his likely absence in campaigning. Also, the DMDK had a poor performance during the last election when it got just 2.40 per cent vote share as against 7.88 per cent in 2011.

With political experts expecting a tight race in the Assembly elections due to significant polarisation of votes, mainly with Kamal Haasan’s and TTV Dhinakaran’s parties in the fray, the AIADMK will be happy to contest in over 185 seats, for it to win more seats on its own to avoid any coalition.

Also, since party cadres of the PMK and DMDK do not enjoy a cordial relationship, the moving out of the latter will enthuse the PMK cadres to work more energetically and enthusiastically in the northern districts where it has a strong vote base.

Commenting on DMDK’s move, N Sathiya Moorthy, a political analyst said the AIADMK needs DMDK in marginal constituencies. But the ruling party seems wanting to minimise chances of a coalition government or dependence on allies, especially BJP, given the experience of the latter elsewhere.

DMDK’s vote share has reduced. Vijayakanth too is unavailable for campaigning owing to ill-health. Balance of convenience is for AIADMK to sacrifice safe seats to DMDK, which could also trigger rebellion within, he said.

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