The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) on Tuesday inked pacts with the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the Lok Sabha election, by allotting seven and five seats respectively.
This leaves 28 seats, including one in the Union Territory of Puducherry, available to the AIADMK and other possible allies.
Support in byelection
The PMK and the BJP pledged support to the ruling party in the by-election to 21 Assembly constituencies, expected to be held along with the Lok Sabha election. It was after a gap of 10 years, for the Lok Sabha election, that the AIADMK has reached an understanding with the PMK and after an interval of 15 years, with the BJP. On both occasions, the Dravidian party’s allies drew a blank.
Chief Minister and AIADMK co-coordinator Edappadi K. Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister and party coordinator O. Panneerselvam signed the agreement with the PMK.
In the morning, State Ministers P. Thangamani and S.P. Velumani, both regarded as confidants of the Chief Minister, went to the residence of daughter of the PMK founder in T. Nagar to escort Dr. Ramadoss and former Union Minister Anbumani Ramadoss to a star hotel in R.A. Puram, where the AIADMK leaders received them.
The Deputy Chief Minister then told the media that the two parties had clinched a deal. The PMK leader had presented a charter of demands.
Union Minister Piyush Goyal reached the city in the afternoon and got the understanding with the AIADMK finalised after a meeting with the latter’s leaders.
Even though it was expected that the BJP would finalise an arrangement with the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK), what emerged after his meeting with the DMDK’s leaders, Vijayakant, his wife Premalatha Vijayakant and brother-in-law L.K. Sudeesh, was a statement from the Union Minister that he had come to the city only to wish Mr. Vijayakant, who came back to Chennai on Saturday after undergoing treatment in the U.S., a “very good and healthy life.”
According to a source, the DMDK was said to have sought five Lok Sabha seats along with one Rajya Sabha seat. To this, the BJP sought more time to respond.
However, another source in the BJP said the issue would be resolved in a few days.