CHENNAI: “Jot it down it in your diary … the alliance in which PMK is a constituent will win all the seats.” This has been the advice of PMK founder Dr S Ramadoss to mediapersons during every election. The PMK leader’s boast has a strong basis-his party’s seat tally has been going up ever since it entered electoral politics in 1989. Call it premonition or instinct, the alliance the PMK switched to has won several times.
After its debut in the 1989 Parliamentary elections, the PMK went it alone in 1991 Assembly elections and won. Secured one seat. In 1996, the tally went up to four. In 2001, the party entered into an alliance with the AIADMK, contested from 27 constituencies and won 20. With that report card, Dr Ramadoss drove a hard bargain with the DMK in 2006 and secured 31 seats, but won just 18.
Dr Ramadoss’ luck ran out in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections and the subsequent by-election to the Pennagaram Assembly constituency. The party, which had by then broken off from the DMK-led front and aligned with the AIADMK, was routed in the Parliamentary polls, failing to win any of the seven seats it contested in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. This is where the party’s image took a beating.
“The PMK’s bargaining power has neither come down nor gone up,” said Dr Ramadoss in reply to a question after signing the seat-sharing agreement with DMK chief M Karunanidhi on Friday, perhaps indicating that he had to swallow a bitter pill and agree to contest the same number of seats it had contested in the last Assembly elections.
The PMK has been making the right noises over issues concerning education, employment, agriculture and prohibition, but it cannot be denied that the party largely banks on the Vanniyar vote bank, concentrated mostly in the northern districts of TN, including Cuddalore, Villupuram and Perambalur.
This time around, the PMK may find the going tough in bagging a lion’s share of Vanniyar votes, as the vote bank of this community has been split among the various political parties and Vanniyar outfits dotting the political spectrum of TN. The Vanniyar Federation led by C N Ramamurthi has struck an alliance with the AIADMK. Former Congress MP Era Anbarasu has also demanded party tickets for Vanniyars in the coming elections.
These apart, during the past couple of years, the bitterness between the cadre of the two parties has increased manifold due to Dr Ramadoss’ continued criticism of the DMK government and some of its leaders. This may have an impact during the campaign.
According to sources, the PMK has demanded all the 18 constituencies it had won in the 2006 Assembly elections. If it manages to secure the seats, it will be the first step towards fortifying its bastion.