DMK-Cong, AIADMK-DMDK, BJP-PMK in tri-corner fight
Chennai , Apr 17
The hustle and bustle of the high octane campaign for the Friday’s single phase elections to Lok Sabha in Tamil Nadu ended on Wednesday evening.
Polling will be held for 39 Parliamentary constituencies in Tamil Nadu and the lone seat in the Union Territory of Puducherry.
Along with the Lok Sabha seats, bye-election to the Vilavancode Assembly seat, which fell vacant following the resignation of Congress MLA . S.Vijayadharani, who quit the party and joined the BJP, will also be held.
As the campaigning drew to a close at today evening, candidates, cutting across political lines, made a last ditch effort to woo the voters by indulging in door-to-door campaigning.
The elections will witness a no-holds barred contest in a four-cornered battle between the ruling DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA), which is also a key partner of the Opposition-led INDIA bloc at the National level, the AIADMK and the BJP fronts, apart from the Naam Tamizhar Katchi (NTK) of Actor-director Seeman.
This will be the first election faced by the AIADMK under the unitary leadership of its General Secretary and former Chief Minister Edappadi K.Palaniswami after he took over the party’s mantle with the support of the majority of the party members at the General Council meeting in 2022, after a protracted legal wrangle and getting the official recognition of the Election Commission as the sole party leader.
The meeting ousted O.Panneerselvam, also a former CM, for revolting against his decision to restore the party to the unitary leadership and insisted maintenance of status quo of dual leadership led by them.
The whirlwind campaign witnessed virulent attacks against each other as the parties in fray gird up their loins to make a mark in the electoral scenario, in what is seen as an acid test for the three key contenders–the two Dravidiain majors and the BJP.
More vociferous and acerbic was none other then the DMK, which went all outin its blistering attack against the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre and also Prime Minister Narendra Modi, besides the AIADMK.
The AIADMK on the other hand, after being circumspect in the initial phase and was guarded against its criticisms against the BJP, with which it had severed its ties after successive poll debacles and in a bid to attract the minority voters, upped its ante against the saffron party as the campaign neared its business end.
The BJP was vocal against the DMK and the AIADMK, flaying both of them of being corrupt and not concerned about the welfare of the State, while the NTK going it alone as usual, minced no words in flaying the three key parties in the fray.
The BJP had quite often hit out at the DMK for pursuing dynastic politics and was keen on furthering its familial interests, apart from being corrupt. Chief Minister and DMK President M.K.Stalin, who criss-crossed the state to canvass votes, single-handedly shouldered the burden of electioneering along with his son and Sports Development and Youth Welfare Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, while targetting the Centre in his every election campaign meeting and was also equally aggressive and riposte against its arch rival the AIADMK.
While stating that the election was an ideological battle and that the question is not who should come to power, but who should not come to power, vowed to dethrone the ‘fascist’ BJP regime and install a new government headed by the INDIA bloc to protect secularism, social justice and federalism.
Such was Mr Stalin’s criticism of the BJP that he accused Mr Modi of not caring about the welfare of the State and charged him with not sanctioning funds for the flood relief, Chennai Metro and other projects.
He also alleged that the BJP has failed to fulfill its poll promises in its 10 year rule and was instrumental in increasing the fuel prices and LPG. The recent decision to reduce the LPG prices by the Centre was a eyewash with an eye on the elections.
He also said that the return of BJP, which is hell bent on amending the Constitution and propogating One Nation, One Leader, One election, to the power will endanger country’s security and democracy.
Launching a broadside against Mr Modi for not even visiting the flood-affected Chennai and its neighbouring districts and also the southern parts of the state which was ravaged by unprecedented rains recently, Mr Stalin said the BJP has never paid a single paise as relief sought by the State towards flood mitigation and putting the people of the country to untold hardships in the form of demonetisation and introduction of GST and not releasing.due Central funds after getting huge amount of tax revenue from the State.
On Modi’s frequent visit to Tamil Nadu, the DMK Chief likened it to the visit of seasonal birds to sanctuaries, with the elections in mind. However, this will not cut much ice among the voters as the people of Tamil Nadu are well aware of it, he noted.
Charging the BJP and Mr Modi with unleashing the Central investigating agencies like the ED, CBI and the IT against its political adversaries,especially in non-BJP ruled States and functioning like a ‘washing machine’ by roping in politicians involved in corruption cases, either diluting the cases or putting them in cold storage, the DMK President said the BJP should be taught a lesson in this elections.
If the BJP retained power and Mr Modi became the Prime Minister for the third term the democracy will be in peril, he said.
The electoral bonds issue, in which the BJP had received funds from various firms, the arrests of non-BJP leaders including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in alleged corruption cases, also came in handy for both the DMK and the Congress in sharpening its attack against the Centre. On the other hand, the AIADMK, campaigned by its General Secretary and Leader of the Opposition singled out the DMK in its attack of not fulfilling its 2021 poll promises, including the NEET and criticised it of improper handling of the flood situation in Chennai.
The BJP too was equally critical of both the DMK and the AIADMK accusing them of being corrupt and not being concerned about the welfare of the people of the State and banked on various Central schemes implemented in the State.
The vexatious Katchatheeu, an islet ceded to Sri Lanka through a 1974 pact, turned out to be the main poll plank, especially during the last phase of campaigning after the issue was raised by Mr Modi, accusing both the DMK and the Congress of surrendering the State’s right, a point which the DMK repeatedly said it vehemently opposed it right from the beginning.
The BJP, among its promises, said it will take all efforts to retrieve Katchatheevu and protect the traditional rights of Tamil Nadu fishermen, who were subjected to frequent arrests and attacks by the Sri Lankan Navy while fishing in high seas.
Top National leaders of both the DMK and the BJP fronts campaigned in the State and also held road shows to attract the voters.
Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi and Party Chief Mallikharjuna Kharge and left party leaders like Sitaram Yechury and D.Raja were the star campaigners for the DMK-led alliance.
Several Union Ministers, including Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nirmala Sitharaman, Smriti Irani, Anurag Thakur, apart from Mr Modi and BJP National President J.P.Nadda were the key campaigners for the BJP, which is aiming to a make a mark in Tamil Nadu in this polls, by winning a good number of seats.
The DMK-led Front, which has been winning all the five successive polls, starting from 2019, has managed to keep its flock together for the fifth year in a row, and is keen to repeat the 2019 performance when it won 38 of the 39 seats in Tamil Nadu, the lone setback coming in the southern Theni districtwhen the AIADMK-led alliance, that also comprised the BJP then, managed to win a solitary seat.
This time the alliance equations have changed especially in AIADMK, which had severed its ties with the BJP and walked out of the NDA after five successive losses–2019 LS polls, 2021 Assembly polls, civic body elections to the Rural and Urban local bodies and the Erode Assembly seat bypoll–all dominated by the DMK-led alliance which had stormed back to power in the State in 2021 after a ten year hiatus and its President M.K.Stalin became the Chief Minister for the first time.
While the DMK, heading the Front, is contesting in 21 seats (one more than in 2019) after its former ally IJK had quit and joined the BJP alliance, its alliance parties, the Congress is contesting in nine seats, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), CPI and CPI(M) two seats each.
The other partners, the MDMK led by Rajya Sabha MP Vaiko, Kongunadu Makkal Desiya Katchi (KMDK) the Indian Union Muslim league (IUML)were given one seat each.
The DMK has retained the 2019 formula in seat sharing agreements with its alliance, by allotting the same number of seats and also the same constituencies held by their partners, except for swapping three seats held by the Congress, allotting Cuddalore, Mayiladuthurai and Tirunelveli in place of Arni, Theni and Trichy seats.
The DMK front was bolstered with actor-politician Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) joining as an ally, but chose not to contest in this polls, while pledging his party’s full support to the combine.
As per the agreement, the MNM, which was initially keen to contest in two LS seats, including from Coimbatore Parliamentary Constituency and later decided otherwise, was promised a Rajya Sabha seat in 2025, which will enable Kamal, who had termed his decision of not to contest this polls as a strategy and not a sacrifice, to enter the Parliament.
This is the first alliance venture by MNM after Mr Kamal, who shared a close rapport with Mr Stalin, founded his party in 2018 and has been contesting alone all along. Kamal also contested the 2021 Assembly polls from Coimbatore South but lost to BJP candidate Ms Vanathi Srinivasan by a narrow margin.
On the other hand, the AIADMK after walking out of the NDA, tried to cobble up a formidable alliance, but only managed to rope in DMDK of late actor politician Vijayakanth as its key ally, along with some fringe parties.
The AIADMK will be contesting in 32 seats, the DMDK, now led by Vijayakanth’s wife Premalatha (5 seats), while Puthiya Tamizhagam and Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) will be contesting in one seat each.
In contrast, going by the number of parties in its fold, the BJP might claim it as a stronger alliance that has the formidable Vanniyar outfit Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) of Dr.S.Ramadoss, and the Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) of former Union Shipping Minister G.K.Vasan, besides ousted AIADMK leader and former Chief Minister O.Panneerselvam and Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) founded by another deposed AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran, who is also the nephew of V.K.Sasikala, a close aide of late leader J.Jayalalithaa.
The BJP also has minor parties like IJK of Paarivendhar and Inthiya Makkal Kalvi Munnetra Kazhagam (IMKMK) of T.Devanthan Yadav, New Justice Party (NJP) of A.C.Shanmugam and Tamizhaga Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (TMMK) of John Pandian..
The BJP is contesting in 19 seats, PMK in 10, TMC in three, while AMMK two and the other allies in the remaining five seats.
Mr Panneeselvam will be contesting as an Independent candidate from Ramanathapuram.
The NTK, the fourth party in fray is contesting in all the seats on its own, as usual
