A motley crowd thronged the Vijayakanth Memorial, which also serves as the party headquarters, in Koyambedu, Chennai on Wednesday. The actor-turned-politician had passed away in December 2023.
Party volunteers were busy serving meals to the crowd. A young man was seen having lunch with his friends. When asked whether they were party cadres, he replied, "No, we felt hungry and came here to have meals." Among the crowd was Venkatesan from Tiruvannamalai.
Vijayakanth, known by various sobriquets such as 'Puratchi Kalaignar' Captain and 'Karuppu MGR', has by now become synonymous with charity. His birthday, August 25, is observed as Poverty Eradication Day by the party.
Chants of "Om" resonated softly from the actor's memorial located within the premises. Daily pujas are performed in the temple before the annadhanam is served.
Kumar, an office bearer, said that pujas are regularly held at 12 noon every day. He also said that thousands of people partake in the annadhanam daily, which consists of vegetable brinji, sambar rice, or curd rice. In the evening, prasadam is served—usually sundal, kesari, ven pongal, or sarkara pongal. During the Ramzan fasting season, nombu kanji is served in the evening.
Party chief Premalatha Vijayakant arrives every day at around 11:45 a.m. and attends the puja. She then holds meetings with party functionaries. Around 3 p.m., she comes out of the office to meet party workers and the public.
A generous hand
For the upcoming Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu, the DMDK, which is part of the ruling Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam (DMK)-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA), has been allocated 10 seats, along with a Rajya Sabha berth.
This has raised many eyebrows. A source in the Left parties disclosed to The New Indian Express that even some top-level DMK leaders were surprised by the decision of their party's high command.
In the DMK alliance, the Congress was allocated 28 seats, DMDK 10 seats, VCK eight, MDMK four, CPI (M) five, CPI five, IUML two, KMDK two, and MMK two seats. In the 2021 elections, DMK had contested in 173 constituencies. This time it will be left with only 160+ seats.
Long-time allies of the DMK, the two Left parties—Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) and Communist Party of India (CPI)—were allocated only five seats each, while Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) got eight.
A CPI(M) leader said that when the DMK resisted allocating the number of seats demanded by the party, one option considered was not to contest the polls and instead support the SPA from outside, as done by Kamal Haasan's Makkal Neethi Maiam (MNM), in a bid to keep fascist forces at bay.
The idea to rope in the DMDK arose amid speculation that the Congress party might exit the alliance and join the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), led by Vijay. However, it is surprising that the DMK chose to be generous towards the DMDK despite the Congress staying back.
"If the DMK is truly concerned about strengthening anti-BJP forces, then the decision to include the DMDK is unjustifiable. It is an unreliable partner and can cross over to the rival camp at any time when the situation demands," said political expert G Arun.
"Allocating 10 seats to the DMDK is too much," he added.
Support, high point and campaigning
The party has some base among the Telugu-speaking population in the Kongu belt and southern districts. It also enjoys some support among the Vanniyar community, as evidenced by the success of Vijayakanth from the Vriddhachalam constituency in 2006, Arun pointed out.
However, the party has fared poorly in 2016, 2019, 2021, and 2024, he added.
Interestingly, in the 2021 polls, the DMDK contested 60 seats as part of the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam alliance and lost all of them. The party's vote share was only 0.43%.
The DMDK, founded by Vijayakanth on September 14, 2005, in Madurai, is presently led by his wife, Premalatha.
In the 2006 Assembly election, the party contested all 234 seats without an alliance and secured only one seat, with a 8.38% share of the vote. This was won by its founder-president Vijayakanth from the Vriddhachalam constituency; all other candidates lost.
In the 2009 general elections, the party contested 40 seats—39 in Tamil Nadu and one in Puducherry—without an alliance and lost in all constituencies, securing just 0.75% of the vote.
The high point for the DMDK was between May 27, 2011, and February 21, 2016, when it served as the main opposition party.
What about this election then? When will they step out to canvass?
"Our campaign will start once we get a clear picture of the constituencies in which we are contesting," said Venu Ram, the party's traders' wing treasurer.
A ten on ten will be the aim, but it remains to be seen where they will end up without a charismatic successor to Vijayakanth at the helm.
