COIMBATORE: With the DMDK-PWA-TMC alliance left decimated in the 2016 State Assembly election, the future of the alliance is now uncertain. Already, there are indications that the alliance may not last even until the upcoming local body polls, likely to be held later in the year.
The leaders of the constituent parties are unable to guarantee that they would stick together either.
The alliance was touted as an alternative to the Dravidian majors, but the poll results showed that voters still preferred either one of the two Dravidian majors and were not ready to accept any alternative front.
The DMDK, which managed to attain the opposition party status in the 2011 assembly election, could not even win a single seat in the 2016 assembly polls and party leader Vijayakant himself was defeated at Ulundurpettai.
The blame game for the defeat has already begun between the alliance party cadres and whether or not the alliance would continue at least till the local body election is anybody’s guess.
When contacted the CPM State secretary G Ramakrishnan said, “As of now, we will work together for the welfare of the people as per our minimum common action plan and our alliance coordinators have confirmed it. But we cannot guarantee that we will stick together till the local body election.”
“A political alliance is not something that could be predicted for the next 10 years, we will look at it once the election is announced,” he added.
Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) leader GK Vasan too was reticent to confirm the battered alliance’s strategy till the upcoming local body polls.
“We hoped that first-time voters and youngsters would prefer our alliance. But unfortunately they did not. We believe that the scenario will change in the future,” he said.
The DMDK-PWA-TMC alliance leaders will discuss the poll results and then come to a conclusion regarding the alliance for the next election, he said.
VCK general secretary D Ravikumar said, “Though we started our campaign earlier by projecting our principles, freebies announced by the Dravidian parties made an impact in the rural areas. In the urban areas, Dravidian parties have influenced the voters by using various tactics.”
‘Poll result no setback for us’
CPM State secretary R Mutharasan has insisted that the state assembly poll result is not an setback for the communists. “We will make people understand the adverse effect of freebies and take steps to strengthen ourselves,” he said.
