If DMK treasurer M.K. Stalin’s plan to reach out to MDMK general secretary Vaiko results in a formal alliance, it may set the stage for the two parties to face the Assembly elections together for the first time.
After the AIADMK quit the NDA in 1999, the DMK joined the BJP-led alliance, which included the MDMK, for the Lok Sabha elections.
But Mr. Vaiko left the DMK alliance in the 2001 and 2006 Assembly elections at the last minute, alleging that the DMK did not concede his party’s claim to a respectable number of seats.
Mr. Vaiko, expelled from the DMK two decades ago, launched the MDMK with the support of a considerable number of DMK district secretaries. In a bold decision, the MDMK contested the 1996 Assembly elections along with the CPI(M), but could not make any breakthrough, as the DMK and the Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC), floated by late G.K. Moopanar, capitalised on the anti-AIADMK mood.
Mr. Vaiko tasted success when he allied with the A.B. Vajpayee-led BJP, the AIADMK and the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) in the 1998 Lok Sabha elections.
When the AIADMK’s decision to leave the BJP government led to its fall in 1999, Mr. Vaiko remained with the BJP, and the DMK replaced the AIADMK in the alliance. Gingee Ramachandran of the MDMK was made Minister of State for Finance in the Vajpayee Cabinet.
But Mr. Vaiko quit the DMK alliance in the 2001 Assembly polls alleging that constituencies preferred by him, including Sankarankoil, were not allotted to the MDMK. Though he became part of the AIADMK front, Ms. Jayalalithaa, as Chief Minister, did not spare him for his pro-LTTE views. He was arrested under the now-repealed Prevention of Terrorism Act and jailed for 19 months.
The DMK, campaigning for the POTA’s repeal, moved closer to Mr. Vaiko. DMK president M. Karunanidhi went all the way to Vellore to welcome him on his release. But after seat-sharing talks, Mr. Vaiko once again shocked the DMK leadership by going back to Ms. Jayalalithaa, who arrested him, in the run-up to the 2006 Assembly polls.
The alliance with the AIADMK continued, but Ms. Jayalalithaa, putting a premium on the DMDK, led by actor Vijayakant, was not keen on retaining Mr. Vaiko. As he could not get a decent share of seats, Mr Vaiko quit the alliance. He also kept away from the Assembly polls in 2011.
The 2014 Lok Sabha polls once again saw Mr. Vaiko in the company of the BJP, along with the PMK and the DMDK.
