DMK treasurer M.K. Stalin on Friday rejected the argument that his party could not win the majority because it had allotted more seats to its alliance partners, particularly the Congress, and failed to retain adequate seats for itself.
“You could have used the reverse argument if we had given fewer seats to our partners and had lost the elections,” said Mr Stalin who spearheaded the DMK’s election campaign. “The DMK contested 174 seats and it is a good number for any political party. We have performed very well, and along with our allies, we have almost succeeded winning 100 seats,” he told The Hindu .
The DMK allotted 41 seats to the Congress and five each to Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (MMK) and Indian Union Muslim League (IUML). MMK returned one seat to the DMK. Dr. Krishnasamy’s Puthiya Tamizhagam got two seats. Former IAS officer P. Sivakami, N.R. Dhanapalan and Pon. Kumar were allotted one seat each and they contested on the Rising Sun symbol. The party also gave seats to the three DMDK rebels – V.C. Chandrakumar, S.R. Parthipan and C.H. Sekar.
Role of money
Mr. Stalin alleged that the ruling AIADMK was able to secure a majority by distributing money to the voters. “In some places, the Election Commission did prevent money distribution, and in some places, it failed to act. Money helped the AIADMK in the Coimbatore belt. Our cadre prevented the ruling party from distributing money in Chennai and this resulted in benefits for us here,” he said.
Mr. Stalin, who is already the leader of the party in the Assembly, said this time, he and his party colleagues would make their presence felt in the Assembly as the DMK was entering the House in substantial numbers. “Last time, we did not have adequate numbers and it went in favour of the ruling party. They did not allow us to raise people’s issues in the House. Now, they cannot prevent us,” he said.
Mr. Stalin said though Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had made innumerable announcements under Assembly Rule 110 and had also made a lot of promises before the elections, she did not bother to implement them. “People expect her to fulfil her promises,” he commented.
