Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) founder-president Vijayakant, who has been keeping leaders of other parties guessing about his plan for the Lok Sabha elections, is expected to indicate his party’s position at the conference in Ulundurpet of Villupuram district, about 250 km from here.
“In all likelihood, he will prefer an alliance with the BJP, even if there is no formal announcement from him tomorrow,” says a senior functionary of the DMDK.
The actor-turned-politician already announced that he would get the opinion of his party members at the meet, billed as “corruption eradication conference.”
For quite some time, both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) have been making efforts to rope in the DMDK. DMK president M. Karunanidhi a few days ago not only expressed ignorance about the status of talks between the two parties but also added that it was for Mr. Vijayakant to take a call.
Responding to the comment of Mr. Vijayakant’s wife Premalatha that the controversy surrounding his son and former DMK southern zone coordinator M.K. Alagiri was “a family drama,” Mr. Karunanidhi said he did not know as much about drama as she knew.
Going by these observations, the chances of the DMK striking a deal with the DMDK look dim.
A senior DMK leader said the talks could not proceed further when his party found it difficult to meet the demands of the DMDK.
BJP leaders including L. Ganesan and Pon. Radhakrishnan, who are making preparations for a rally to be addressed by their party’s prime ministerial candidate and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in Vandalur near here on Saturday, have been saying that the talks between their party and the DMDK are progressing smoothly. “Even this morning, their representative spoke to our party leaders. We are hopeful that Mr. Vijayakant will make public on Sunday about his plan to join hands with us,” Mr. Ganesan said.
To a question how his party proposed to work out seats sharing in his alliance, which is likely to include the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) and the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), Mr. Ganesan acknowledges that it was going to be a difficult job but “we will do it.”
