AIADMK will go alone in LS polls

Shutting the door on the two main national parties, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) general secretary and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa announced that her party would go it alone in the Lok Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

 Her point was direct and simple: The AIADMK had to contest the elections independently as the Congress and the BJP in Karnataka were united in “not giving a drop of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.”

 Making this point at the AIADMK general council which met at a marriage hall on the outskirts of the city, Ms Jayalalithaa said: 

“If we have to secure Tamil Nadu’s rights and ensure that [Cauvery] delta districts in the State do not become a desert, we should contest in 40 parliamentary constituencies of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry independently in the coming Lok Sabha polls and emerge victorious, thereby enabling us to acquire authority to take all decisions.”

“We have to chart our path. What we have to realise is that we cannot be dependent on the BJP or the Congress.”

 Ms. Jayalalithaa had offered support to the UPA regime in November 2010, saying she was doing so if the only reason for not sacking the then Communications Minister A. Raja in the wake of the 2G scam was the fear of losing the DMK’s support in the Lok Sabha.

 She has also maintained her rapport with BJP leader Narendra Modi, and her categorical stand, as spelt out now, may end speculation about which way she could lean.

 Last week, she attended the swearing-in ceremony of BJP leader Narendra Modi as Gujarat Chief Minister.

 After her walk-out from the National Development Council meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the AIADMK had organised protests against the attitude of the Union government towards its leader.

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AIADMK will go in alone, it is good decision but the problem is now power cut and other issues which will be challenge for her party in 2014 election time definitely.

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In the last 25 years since Ms. Jayalalithaa became the general secretary, 

• the AIADMK aligned with the Congress in the 1989, 1991, 1996 and 1999 Lok Sabha elections; 
• with the BJP in 1998 and 2004 
• with the Left and smaller regional parties in 2009. 

Except in 1991 and 1998, the front that included the AIADMK failed to capture power at the Centre. 

In 1991, the Congress secured 29 seats, including the lone Puducherry seat and the AIADMK 11. 

Seven years later, the AIADMK-led front bagged 30 seats in the States (AIADMK: 18, Pattali Makkal Katchi – 4; BJP and Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam – 3 each and Janata and Tamizhaga Rajiv Congress – one each). 

In 1999, when the AIADMK had tied up not only with the Congress but also with the Communist Party of India and CPI (Marxist), the front had won 13 seats, of which the AIADMK accounted for 10.

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AIADMK's announcement is the new-year gift for Karunanidhi. It is crystal clear the DMDK will be in DMK alliance in 2014 LS elections. Also now, Karunanidhi will form a grand alliance as Jaya shut the doors. So the election will be like this,

AIADMK Vs DMK+INC+DMDK+Left+VCK Vs PMK Vs MDMK

Also Jaya's move will reduce the bargain power of INC and DMDK with the DMK. As it is known that, "there are no permanent friends nor foes in politics", anything might happen before the election.