CHENNAI: Having bagged the support of MDMK functionaries to land a prestigious posting within the party, Durai Vaiko is poised to assume charge this week. The party’s grassroots have high expectations from Durai and hope his leadership will take the party to its glory days.
An MDMK district functionary told TNIE on condition of anonymity that the party produced 11 Lok Sabha MPs, one Rajya Sabha MP, and two Union ministers so far. “We had cadre and functionaries in every village across the State. It had a large number of State-level leaders, orators, and writers who could propagate the party’s stance among the public. Now, the party has only a few State-level leaders and fewer orators. One of the first tasks for Durai will be to strengthen the party from the ground up.
On the difficulties in getting the Election Commission of India (ECI) to recognise MDMK again, another district-level functionary said the party needs to reach the six-per-cent-vote-share mark to get its recognition back. “To reach this vote share, however, we have to field candidates in at least four MP and 12 MLA seats under our symbol and produce at least two MPs and seven MLAs. But given our present strength, contesting in that many seats would not be possible in the near future,” he added.
A former MDMK functionary told TNIE that the DMK-led alliance won 38 of the 39 Parliament seats in the State during the last general election. The MDMK, an ally, was allocated one seat. But the party candidate contested under the DMK symbol. “Now, all the allies would get the same number of seats for the next Parliamentary election, too, provided there is such an alliance then,” he said. As such, there is no chance of the MDMK getting more seats, he added.
The MDMK was allocated six Assembly seats in the last election. The party contested under the DMK symbol and won four seats. CPM, CPI, and VCK were also allocated the same six Assembly seats. “So, if the DMK agrees to allocate 12 seats to the MDMK in the next Assembly election, all the other parties, too, would want the same number of seats,” he said.
T Koodalarasan, a veteran journalist, said, “In Tamil Nadu, political leaders have to air their views on every issue. Durai’s views would expose his skills and his affiliation with the party’s ideology.”
MDMK’s Tiruchy South District Secretary Tamil Manickam said Durai already exhibited his skills in the rural local body elections. “The MDMK won all the contested seats in the Kuruvikulam panchayat union in Tirunelveli and won the union president post for the party,” he added.