CHENNAI: Having been spurned by its long-time target, the Captain, the DMK has turned its attention to the fringe players in this game, caste and community outfits, small political parties and social service organisations which hog the limelight around the election time.
As on Friday, representatives from 90 parties have met party treasurer MK Stalin so far to convey their support, and if party sources are to be believed, the number of such parties will hit a century soon.
Of these organisations, over one-third are outfits based on religion, community and caste. All are rather unknown entities in the political and social spheres - Tamil Maanila Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Telugu Desam party (Karnataka), Puthiya Thalaimurai Katchi, Tamil Nadu Kannada Samudhayam, Namadhu Desam Katchi, Anaithu Makkal Viduthalai Katchi, Anna Makkal Iyakkam, Sivaji Samooga Nala Peravai, Tamil Nadu Bharathiya Republican Party, Nadaalum Telugu Makkal Katchi etc. are some of the outfits which have extended support to the DMK.
“After the DMDK refused to align with the DMK, there had been reports that the party has been left isolated in the election field. So there is a need for the DMK to break that perception and hence grabbed the support extended by these parties. In real terms, however, the support from these parties won’t add much to the strength of the DMK and the AIADMK,” said political commentator Gnani.
R Muthukumar, who has authored many books on history of Indian elections, noted that this ‘election time trend’ is not a new phenomenon. He insisted that the labels such as ‘smaller parties’ or ‘fringe outfits’ are not just. “In a democracy, a party is a party, whether it is a smaller or bigger entity. There are parties which have growth dreams. They try to fulfil some of their demands during general elections to the Lok Sabha and Assembly and also some byelections,” Muthukumar said. He recalled that over 300 organisations had extended their support to the AIADMK in the 2011 Assembly polls.
`9.4-crore cash seized by squads
Chennai: The flying squads and stationary surveillance squads across the State have so far seized `9.39 crore as unaccounted cash. Till Friday, 1,82,188 complaints on code violation had been received and of them 93,868 complaints had been disposed of. FIRs had been filed in 1,328 cases and of them. Deputy Election Commissioner Sandeep Saxena called on the TN CEO for talks on various issues.