Chennai, June 18 (IANS). A big change may soon be seen in the politics of Tamil Nadu. Talks have intensified about the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) breaking away from the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA) and moving closer to the TVK government led by Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay.
According to party sources, MDMK may formally announce its separation from the DMK alliance in its General Council meeting to be held on June 27. If this happens, it will be considered a major political realignment in Tamil Nadu politics.
Many former DMK allies like VCK, IUML, CPI and CPM have already extended support to the TVK government. However, MDMK has not been able to openly support the government till now, because two of its MLAs had reached the Assembly after winning the election on DMK’s election symbol ‘Rising Sun’.
Party leaders believe that the most practical way out in this situation is for both the MLAs to resign from their posts, contest the by-elections and support the ruling coalition after winning again.
MDMK chief Vaiko and his son, Tiruchirappalli MP Durai Vaiko, have both publicly expressed regret over contesting the election on the DMK symbol. Recently Durai Vaiko had said that due to winning on DMK ticket, his party is not able to support the TVK government, which is unfortunate for him.
On Tuesday, Public Works Minister Aadhav Arjuna met Vaiko at his residence in Chennai. The next day, Vaiko met Chief Minister Vijay at the Secretariat. Although Vaiko termed the news of change in alliance as mere speculation, sources say that political issues were discussed in detail in the meeting with the Chief Minister that lasted for about 45 minutes.
Meanwhile, Durai Vaiko also defended the TVK government over the recent crimes against women in the state. He rejected the allegations of the opposition in which law and order was deteriorating. He said that this is an attempt to create a ‘narrative’ against the government.
He claimed that there was no unusual increase in crimes against women and such cases had been coming to light even during the DMK rule.
Let us tell you that in the assembly elections held in April, MDMK had contested four seats on the DMK symbol, out of which it won two seats. If both the party MLAs resign, the number of vacant seats in the assembly will increase to eight. These also include the Tiruchirappalli (East) seat that became vacant after Chief Minister Vijay assumed office.
–IANS
VKU/AS