Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) leader Vijaykant has not made up his mind on having an alliance with any major party for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, despite indications that he may go with the DMK.
“Think cautiously, as we should not sacrifice 2016 for the sake of 2014,” the actor-politician told his partymen at the party’s eighth general council and high-level executive committee meeting on Friday.
The reference was the party’s ambitions for the Assembly elections due in 2016. This was in response to views aired in favour of going in for an alliance for the Lok Sabha polls due next year.
“He is keen on projecting the party as an alternative to both the DMK and AIADMK in the 2016 Assembly elections. He feels if we join hands with Dravidian majors, it will come in the way of realizing our objective. He wants us to strengthen the party organisation.
He reminded us how we were able to emerge the main Opposition from having just a single member in the 2006 elections,” said one of the party MLAs who attended the Friday meeting.
Many general council members and senior leaders had argued that there was a need to retain the momentum gained by the party in the 2011 Assembly election and it could be done so only by winning some seats in the Lok Sabha polls.
“We may not have stakes in the Lok Sabha elections, but we need to constantly prove that we have a winning streak. If we lose the winning streak in the Lok Sabha polls, it may have an adverse effect,” said another senior MLA, arguing that the party could prepare itself aggressively for the Assembly elections immediately after the Lok Sabha polls.
“But Mr Vijayakant wants to move in a calculated manner. He said we would cross the bridge when we come to it,” the MLA said.
The MLA said Mr Vijayakant was initially not interested in going with the AIADMK even in the 2011 Assembly elections. “But a vicious campaign unleashed in the run-up to the polls that we will stand alone just to help the DMK, provoked him and he agreed to join the AIADMK alliance,” he said.
