Congress-DMK come together to counter AIADMK-BJP alliance in Tamil Nadu

Even as the AIADMK and the BJP are in talks of forming a pre-poll alliance in Tamil Nadu ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress has begun launching a new political front against the said alliance, including Congress, DMK, MDMK, VCK, Indian Union Muslim League and Left parties are preparing to go at it together. Congress general secretary and Tamil Nadu in-charge Mukul Wasnik has been given the charge of forming the alliance.

DMK leader Tiruchi Shiva said that the coalition is almost ready and only seat-sharing talks are pending. The DMK and the Congress have also made the committee. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, AIADMK won 37 of the 39 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu. In the last Lok Sabha elections, the DMK and the Congress could not even open their account.

On the other hand, the ruling AIADMK on Tuesday allotted seven Lok Sabha seats to the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) for the forthcoming Parliamentary elections. Announcing the deal in the presence of Chief Minister K Palaniswami, AIADMK coordinator and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam said it has also been decided that the PMK will be allocated a Rajya Sabha seat. The alliance is likely to include the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Vijayakanth-led DMDK. Senior BJP leader Piyush Goyal is in Chennai and he is likely to negotiate the deal with the AIADMK and DMDK.

Under the deal, the PMK will be supporting the AIADMK in the bypolls expected to 21 Assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu, he said. A formal agreement in this regard was signed between the leadership of the two parties in a city hotel.

PMK founder leader S Ramadoss described the coalition as “an alliance for people’s welfare, a mega-coalition and a victorious alliance.”

“To retrieve the rights of Tamil Nadu people, we have made a 10-point charter of demands,” Ramadoss said. The demands include declaring the Cauvery delta districts as a protected farm region, a caste-wise census be held in Tamil Nadu and seven Rajiv case convicts be set free.

“This coalition will be successful in all the 40 constituencies in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry,” he said. The rationale for aligning with the AIADMK will be explained by his son and former Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss later, he said.