The Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) on Saturday exited the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-led Secular Progressive Alliance after over eight years, with party general secretary Vaiko accusing his long-time ally — the DMK — of attempting to quietly install an AIADMK government after the assembly election results. The MDMK has now said it would support the ruling TVK in the upcoming assembly bypolls.
“We are leaving the alliance headed by the DMK. In the ensuing by-elections, we will extend our support to the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam. They have eradicated commission and corruption, the two evils of democracy,” the MDMK general secretary said, hours after a resolution to this effect was passed in the general council meeting on Saturday, in which 1,466 members participated and expressed their support to sever ties with the DMK.
Vaiko added that his party would not contest the by-elections, but “if they invite me, I will go for campaigning.”
However, the party said it will remain part of the national opposition alliance and will attend the next Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc meeting.
Vaiko said that his party has been “compelled” to contest only in four assembly seats under the DMK’s ‘Rising Sun’ poll symbol, ignoring their requests to contest with an independent poll symbol in the April 23 assembly polls in Tamil Nadu. “Other alliance partners (in the DMK-led SPA) were contesting on their own poll symbols. But we were compelled to sign our acceptance that we will be contesting only in four assembly seats and under the ‘Rising Sun’ symbol,” he added.
He also alleged that the DMK was involved in political manoeuvring after the assembly election results. “We have never criticised Stalin or the DMK party, but after the election result, to form an AIADMK government, the DMK indulged in politics,” he said.
The Vaiko-led party had passed a resolution on December 3, 2017, to align with the DMK “to prevent communal forces from gaining ground in Tamil Nadu and to protect the core ideological tenets of the Dravidian movement from erosion.”
In the recently concluded polls, the MDMK won two seats, with both candidates contesting on the DMK’s ‘rising sun’ symbol. The Vijay-led party won 108 seats but fell 10 short of a simple majority. Later, the Congress, Left Front and other smaller allies — all of them DMK allies until then — extended support to Vijay to become the next Chief Minister.
While the MDMK did not formally announce support for the TVK government, Vaiko has met CM Vijay on several occasions since.
On May 10, after Vijay became the chief minister, Vaiko and his son, Durai Vaiko, praised the TVK chief for his “political magnanimity” after he visited the veteran leader’s residence following his oath-taking ceremony.
Later, Durai Vaiko and the MDMK chief met the Chief Minister on two separate occasions, further fuelling speculation about the party’s future political course. Now, with Vaiko openly declaring support for Vijay-led TVK, Tamil Nadu’s political landscape is expected to see further churn in the coming months.
HT reached out to the DMK and the AIADMK but did not receive a response till the time of print.
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said the exit showed how the DMK has treated its alliance partners.
“Congress has deserted DMK and now the MDMK which contested on the symbol of ‘Rising Sun’ (poll symbol of DMK), has also walked out of the DMK alliance. This shows how bad the DMK is with its alliance partners, they way they treated them.” BJP Tamil Nadu secretary Vinoj P Selvam said.
