The DMK which was mauled in the recently held RK Nagar by-poll has dissolved all its units in the Assembly constituency following a report submitted by the three-member committee which probed the factors behind the debacle of the party candidate Marudu Ganesh. TTV Dhinakaran, the independent candidate who contested with pressure cooker as his symbol had humbled all his 58 rivals. All barring the AIADMK candidate forfeited their security deposits.
But H Raja, the national secretary of the BJP, came out on Tuesday with a new finding which may act as a deterrent for other major political parties in the State. “The DMK suffered a rout at RK Nagar because of its alliance with the VCK,” said Raja. To substantiate his findings about the VCK, Raja pointed out the voting pattern and results of various Assembly and Lok Sabha elections held in Tamil Nadu.
“The general public in Tamil Nadu do not like the VCK, a militant caste outfit led by Thol Thirumavalavan. Whoever aligns with the VCK is sure to loss badly in the elections,” said Raja.
The DMK had aligned with the VCK for the 2001 Assembly election. “Though there was no visible anti-incumbency feeling against the DMK Government which had ruled the State from 1996 to 2001, the party lost badly in the election,” said Raja. Since both the AIADMK and the DMK were reluctant to forge any kind of alliance with the VCK, the party had floated People’s Alliance which drew a blank in the 2004 Lok Sabha election, said Raja.
Thirumavalavan managed to get into the good books of AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa who included the VCK in her front for the 2006 Assembly election. But the AIADMK came a cropper in that election. “Thirumavalavan crossed over to the DMK camp in time for the 2009 Lok Sabha election and he managed to win from the seat he contested. He stayed on with the DMK and contested the 2011 Assembly election as an ally of the Dravidian major. The DMK and its allies were mauled in that election,” said Raja.
The DMK had continued its ties with the VCK for the 2014 elections and the party was defeated by the AIADMK. “The DMK failed to win at least a single seat in the 2014 Lok Sabha election,” he said.
The VCK and five other parties had launched the People Welfare Front for the 2016 Assembly election in their bid to form a third alternative in Tamil Nadu. “The PWF was obliterated on the election. Sadly enough, Vijayakanth, whose DMDK had 10 per cent of the popular votes, lost his security deposit in the hustings,” said Raja.
The moral of the RK Nagar result is that those who align with the VCK do so at their own peril, pointed out the BJP leader.
The VCK which had campaigned for the DMK candidate has started exploring the possibilities of aligning with the TTV Dhinakaran camp of the AIADMK.