DMDK treasurer Premalatha Vijayakant, in an interview on Tuesday, insists that her party has a presence across Tamil Nadu and cannot be written off from the political landscape. She accuses the AIADMK of breaching coalition dharma during seat-sharing talks. Edited excerpts:
Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami had all along maintained that the AIADMK’s alliance, formed during the 2019 Lok Sabha poll, of which the DMDK was a constituent, would continue for the Assembly election. What went wrong during negotiations between the AIADMK and the DMDK?
When the question of sharing seats emerged, there was a virtual dilly-dallying on the part of the AIADMK. Despite the two parties holding four rounds of talks on seat-sharing, the AIADMK dragged its feet and did not make any commitment on the number of seats or constituencies that would be earmarked for the DMDK.
After several rounds of talks, the AIADMK started with single digits and finally decided to earmark 13 seats, which was not acceptable to the district secretaries of our party. Our deputy general secretary, L.K. Sudhish, also met Mr. Palaniswami. However, there was no change in their stand and they did not agree to change even one number. The DMDK wanted 25 seats, and subsequently, brought it down to 23, and even agreed to settle for 18. However, the AIADMK refused to budge. Captain [Vijayakant] did not agree.
The alliance appeared to be inconsistent and it became clear that the AIADMK would only set apart an insignificant number of seats. They did not even mention the name of the constituencies. They took a stand that we should first ink the agreement on seat- sharing and only then the names of the constituencies would be announced. The AIADMK breached the ethics of coalition dharma , which struck at the root of the alliance.
The DMDK always wanted to be treated on a par with or better than the PMK in the alliance. Why?
This is utterly baseless. We have never compared ourselves with other parties. We know our strengths and have only asked for our rights. There is no need for us to make comparisons.
AIADMK leaders have hinted that the DMDK’s vote share has reduced and therefore, it should have agreed to contest in fewer seats. What is your response to this?
If the AIADMK is of the view that the allocation of seats must be on the basis of percentage of votes polled, they should also make it clear whether 18% votes secured by the AIADMK in the 2019 Lok Sabha election will be a yardstick, since the alliance drew a blank. It is also wrong on the part of the AIADMK to belittle coalition partners. This was a reason for the failure of the alliance.
After the talks broke down, Mr. Sudhish said the AIADMK would lose its deposit in all constituencies. Do you endorse this view?
This was only an outburst and it concerns the treatment that was meted out to the DMDK at the last minute during the seat-sharing talks. This should not be exaggerated. I know of an alliance partner in the AIADMK front that made disparaging comments against the Chief Minister. I have proof of 10 videos of such talks by the leader of an alliance partner, and they are now friendly and amiable.
Did you find common cause with the AIADMK at any point?
There is no common cause. Even during a meeting of our district secretaries, we tried to contact the Chief Minister through his personal assistant to have a final picture of the AIADMK’s stand on allying with the DMDK. But the AIADMK remained stubborn and it made it clear that it would not climb down. The decision to exit the alliance was taken by Captain with a heavy heart. The present leadership of the AIADMK did not have a consummate attitude as was seen on the part of madam [Jayalalithaa]. Had they announced the list of seats sought by us, the seat-sharing deal would have been finalised the same day.
You have been with Mr. Vijayakant since the time the DMDK was formed. Why did you delay your political entry all these years?
The situation is different now. In the previous election, I, along with Captain, campaigned for the party’s candidates and those of our allies to ensure their victory. I did not have the intention to become an MLA or a Minister. Due to Captain’s health, he has been unable to campaign. He will campaign in the final phase while Mr. Sudhish and my son, Vijay Prabhakaran, will campaign in all segments.
From being the third largest party in Tamil Nadu, the DMDK has been reduced to a player with just over 2% vote share. Do you think the party took some wrong decisions, say going with the third front in 2016 when Karunanidhi was waiting for the DMDK?
Our vote bank is strong and the DMDK has a strong presence in every nook and corner in the 234 Assembly segments. No force can make inroads into our assured vote bank. Hence, no one should have a wrong opinion that the DMDK’s vote bank has shrunk. This is an incorrect assessment. If there was any decline, it was because we worked out an alliance. When we join an alliance, an assessment is made on vote percentage based on the number of seats earmarked to the party, and not on the party’s vote share in the Assembly segments. While victories and defeats may come and go, the DMDK will remain a formidable force and will reach greater heights.
