CHENNAI: Ending days of speculation about whether the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) will join hands with the AIADMK or BJP, the party on Monday announced that it has decided to go with the saffron party for the Lok Sabha poll.
A formal announcement on the number of Lok Sabha seats and the candidates to be fielded would be made by PMK founder Dr S Ramadoss soon, party general secretary Vadivel Ravanan said. The development has come as a shot in the arm for the BJP which has been unsuccessful so far in roping in bigger parties.
The party announced its decision on Monday after a crucial executive committee meeting held at Thailapuram in Villupuram district in which the party’s district secretaries and presidents and key office-bearers took part. Asked whether forging an alliance with the BJP would be a setback for the PMK, Ravanan said, “We don’t think so. Having an alliance with the BJP will be useful for the PMK and would augur well for the future of the party.”
The PMK allied with the AIADMK and the BJP in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections. In the 2021 Assembly elections, too, the alliance continued. However, in September 2021, the PMK walked out of the AIADMK-led alliance, ahead of the local body polls.
There have been many rounds of informal talks between the AIADMK and PMK. Senior AIADMK leader CVe Shanmugam too met the PMK founder S Ramadoss a few times. However, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, a few days ago, said AIADMK is not holding talks with the PMK and talks are on only with the DMDK, hinting that the alliance may not fructify.
‘PMK-BJP unnatural alliance will backfire’
On Sunday, PMK MLA R Arul called on AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami at his residence in Chennai and held discussions. This gave rise to expectations that the PMK has almost decided to go with the AIADMK. However, on Monday, the party meeting at Thailapuram took the call to go with BJP.
AIADMK sought to downplay the development. AIADMK spokesperson Kovai M Satyan told TNIE, “Mega alliance is a perception game. The AIADMK had proved its might by going all alone earlier. We have more than two crore cadres which is 30% of the eligible voters. As far as Tamil Nadu is concerned, the BJP doesn’t have the bandwidth to ensure the victory of its allies. Getting parties may help the BJP to set in motion a narrative that the party has gained more votes but an alliance with the AIADMK will ensure the victory of the allies as our organisational structure will work for our partners on the ground.” Satyan also said the alliance between the PMK and BJP would backfire on them as it is not a natural alliance.
A senior leader of the AIADMK, told TNIE, “We don’t see this as a setback. AIADMK had contested the elections on its own and made history in the past. An electoral alliance is an entity formed by like-minded parties. It is better to forge an alliance with like-minded parties instead of facing trouble by aligning with parties that don’t have an agreement with us and call it a mega alliance.”