×
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Vaiko's party quits Jaya front

Assembly polls 2011: MDMK decides to boycott elections
Last Updated 20 March 2011, 17:36 IST
ADVERTISEMENT

Negotiations broke down over the MDMK’s demand for at least 21 constituencies, against an offer of only 12 by the AIADMK. The Vaiko-led MDMK blamed the AIADMK’s obduracy for the outcome.

The AIADMK looked to offer MDMK one more seat on Saturday night to give it that extra edge over the 12 seats given to the CPM. in the morning, senior AIADMK functionaries O Pannerselvam and K A Sengottaiyan had held talks with Vaiko.    

The efforts did not bear fruit. “The way the MDMK was treated during the seat-sharing talks and the AIADMK’s approach in handling the issue with a view to edging out the former have deeply hurt and pained the MDMK cadre,” said the five-page resolution announcing the MDMK’s quit decision.

“Our belief that AIADMK General Secretary J Jayalalitha’s attitude towards her political allies has changed, chastened by the lessons of the past, has been completely belied,” the resolution said. It regretted that ‘Amma’ continued to function ‘obdurately and unilaterally.’  Vaiko also ruled out the MDMK leading a third front, lest it be grossly misinterpreted as helping the DMK. In fact, Vaiko later said his basic stance was still ‘anti-DMK.’  The MDMK had been allotted 35 Assembly seats in Tamil Nadu of the total of 234 and two constituencies in Puducherry out of 30 seats there in the 2006 polls when the party tied up with AIADMK. Vaiko said under the changed circumstances now – as actor Vijayakant’s DMDK has been roped into the AIADMK-Front - the MDMK should have had a reasonable share in the pie.

In the last five years, Vaiko has not only been the most trusted ally of ‘Amma’, but has also been a star campaigner for her front with his brilliant oratory.  “I am sure the AIADMK was aware of these things including the fact that Vaiko continues to be a star campaigner for the opposition,” remarked MDMK spokesman Nanmaran.

“Vaiko had already started campaigning against the DMK a year back, but the way they treated us (during the seat-sharing talks) showed they did not want us to be with them for this Assembly election,” Nanmaran said. He ruled out the MDMK reconsidering its decision.

In fact the resolution underlined the fact that despite serious differences with Jayalalitha on the Sri Lankan Tamils and certain other issues, the MDMK had remained a steadfast ally of the AIADMK inside and outside the Assembly in opposing the DMK’s policies.
Sources say “Amma’s greatest disappointment with Vaiko was that half of the six MLAs’ who got elected last time as part of her front eventually defected to DMK. Vaiko’s  problem is that his support base, particularly in the southern districts, was increasingly overlapping with Vijayakant’s DMDK’s social base - the Telugu-speaking Naikkers/ Naidus.

The actor, as well as the AIADMK cadre still wanted Vaiko to be remain in their front. Even the goodwill pep talk of some interlocutors did not help.

‘Hurt by AIADMK’s approach’

The way the MDMK was treated during the seat-sharing talks and the AIADMK’s approach in handling the issue with a view to edging out the former have deeply hurt and pained the MDMK cadre,” said a resolution announcing the MDMK’s  decision.

ADVERTISEMENT
(Published 20 March 2011, 17:34 IST)

Follow us on

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT