The Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), which has three MLAs in the Assembly, on Friday decided to boycott the Rajya Sabha polls.
The decision is a setback to DMK candidate Kanimozhi, who was hoping to bolster her support base with three more votes.
As the Congress, which has five legislators, has not indicated its stand, the DMK made efforts to get the votes of the PMK. The DMK has 23 MLAs. The Puthiya Tamizhagam and the Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (MMK), with two MLAs each, have agreed to support her. If the PMK had backed her candidature, Ms. Kanimozhi’s tally would have increased to 30.
On Friday, the PMK’s executive committee meeting decided to abstain from the elections, reiterating the party’s earlier stand that it would seek to form an alternative front to the Dravidian parties in the State. “A decision to this effect was taken at the general council meeting in 2011. The executive committee also agreed to abide by the decision,” a resolution from the PMK said.
