Tamil Nadu polls: Vijayakant’s DMDK allies with AMMK to contest 60 seats

After walking out of the AIADMK, Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) led by actor Vijayakant on Sunday entered into an electoral alliance with T T V Dhinakaran's Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) to contest 60 seats in the April 6 Assembly elections.

The seat-sharing agreement was signed between leaders of the two parties on Sunday evening. AMMK had announced candidates for many constituencies that have now been allotted to DMDK, but said they will be asked to withdraw from the fray.

Read: AIADMK promises to cut fuel prices, provide govt jobs in poll manifesto

With this, the AMMK alliance has the DMDK, the SDPI, Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM and a few other parties.

The DMDK had launched talks with the AMMK on March 9 immediately after walking out of the AIADMK alliance alleging “mistreatment” but the talks did not progress well. The DMDK was planning to go it alone but it came around, restarted talks on Sunday and signed the deal.

The DMDK will contest in 60 seats, including Vridachalam, where Vijayakant won in 2006. The AMMK will lead the alliance with Dhinakaran as their chief ministerial candidate.

Read: DMK bets on petrol, diesel price cuts, 75% job quota for locals to win votes in Tamil Nadu

The announcement by the DMDK on March 9 was not surprising as the AIADMK was playing hardball with its junior partner, which was expecting to be “treated on par” with another constituent of the alliance, the PMK. The DMDK wanted at least 23 Assembly seats in the April 6 Assembly election, while the AIADMK was not willing to part with more than 13 constituencies.

Once projected as an alternative to the DMK and the AIADMK and launched with much fanfare in 2005 when stalwarts M Karunanidhi and J Jayalalithaa were active, the DMDK’s rise was meteoric and so was its fall as its vote share shrunk to a mere 2.19% in 2019 from an impressive 10.3% in 2009.