Speaker after speaker at the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) general council exhorted party workers to strive hard for the stunning success in the Lok Sabha elections and work for making the Chief Minister and the AIADMK general secretary Jayalalithaa the next Prime Minister.
The call of the leaders was nothing surprising, as even a week ago, on the occasion of the death anniversary of the AIADMK founder M.G. Ramachandran, the workers took a vow to this effect. But, what was more interesting was the argument adduced by Housing and Urban Development Minister and the party’s Thanjavur (South) district secretary R. Vaithilingam.
According to him, at the national level, Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar and Gujarat Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Narendra Modi were not acceptable to each other. Nor the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee could accept each other. Ms. Jayalalithaa was the only leader acceptable as Prime Ministerial candidate to the CPI (M), BJP, Mr. Nitish Kumar and Andhra Pradesh’s Jaganmohan Reddy of YSR Congress, Mr. Vaithilingam said.
Finance Minister and the party treasurer O. Panneerselvam; Municipal Administration and Rural Development Minister and Krishnagiri district secretary K.P. Munusamy; Electricity Minister and Dindigul district secretary of the party Natham R. Viswanathan; Social Welfare Minister and literary wing secretary B. Valarmathi; the party’s deputy propaganda secretary Nanjil Sampath, who joined the AIADMK early this month; organising secretary P.H. Pandian and chairman of the party presidium E. Madhusudanan were among those who reiterated the party’s objective.
In the last 25 years since Ms. Jayalalithaa became the general secretary, the AIADMK aligned with the Congress in the 1989, 1991, 1996 and 1999 Lok Sabha elections; with the BJP in 1998 and 2004 and with the Left and smaller regional parties in 2009. Except in 1991 and 1998, the front that included the AIADMK failed to capture power at the Centre. In 1991, the Congress secured 29 seats, including the lone Puducherry seat and the AIADMK 11. Seven years later, the AIADMK-led front bagged 30 seats in the States (AIADMK: 18, Pattali Makkal Katchi – 4; BJP and Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam – 3 each and Janata and Tamizhaga Rajiv Congress – one each). In 1999, when the AIADMK had tied up not only with the Congress but also with the Communist Party of India and CPI (Marxist), the front had won 13 seats, of which the AIADMK accounted for 10.
