AIADMK downplays PMK's exit from front

Hours after the PMK played truant in the state politics once again on Sunday evening, the Jayalalitha-led AIADMK let the dramatic snapping of the ties pass without much in terms of reaction, a sign that the opposition is unfazed by the parting.

In a sudden decision, the S Ramadoss-founded PMK, which had rejoined the AIADMK-left front few weeks before the 2009 Lok Sabha poll, convened its administrative committee meeting at Thailapuram, the farm-house of its leader near Tindivanam (140 km from here), where it finally decided to end its short alliance with the AIADMK.

The party adopted a unanimous resolution stating that it is meaningless to continue the alliance with the AIADMK when there is no cordiality between them. It affirmed that the PMK “will not remain a minute more in the AIADMK-led alliance.”

Contesting in eight Lok Sabha constituencies in the state under the electoral pact it had agreed with the AIADMK, the PMK was completely washed out in the polls, while the other allies of the AIADMK—the CPI, CPI(M), and the MDMK—managed to win a seat each. The AIADMK on its own had won nine seats.

After its heavy election defeat, the PMK continued to maintain a façade of sustaining the tie, as suspicion within the OBC Vanniayars-dominated party grew that AIADMK cadres did not work hard to ensure the success of their candidates. However, the recent petition in the Madras High Court by former AIADMK minister and an influential partyman in the Vanniyar heartland of Tindivanam, C V Shanmugham, seeking to revoke a lower court decision to exclude PMK leader Ramadoss, his son and former union minister Dr Anbumani Ramadoss and a few close relatives from a murder case, drained out any desire to continue the alliance.

Party sources told Deccan Herald that the stand by the former AIADMK minister had shocked its founder and has ended the alliance.

“Reopening the murder case is like rubbing salt into wound, when the indifferent and disrespectful attitude of Jayalalitha after the elections was already causing pain to our leader Dr Ramadoss,” the sources said, explaining the sudden decision to part company with the AIADMK.

DH News Service