DMDK treasurer Premalatha Vijayakant on Friday said an announcement on whether her party will be part of any alliance or fight the coming Lok Sabha polls independently would be made within the next two days. The party president Vijayakant would decide on that and whether the DMDK would contest the bypolls to 21 Assembly constituencies and the local body polls, before issuing one comprehensive press release in two days, she said.
At a press conference in Chennai, Ms. Premalatha said the DMDK was not afraid of fighting the polls alone. “When we were part of the NDA, the last time (in 2014), all alliance partners signed an agreement together. Everything was fine then. All constituencies were announced on a single day,” she said when asked if the AIADMK’s deal with the PMK was causing consternation to the DMDK.
“This time too the talks were proceeding in the same manner. But then, they (AIADMK) signed a pact with the PMK first. Otherwise, this (seat-sharing issue) would have been completed earlier itself,” Ms. Premalatha said.
The DMDK treasurer said the party was waiting for their choice of constituencies and seats. “There is no urgency on our side. We are handling everything patiently. Just wait for two days,” she said. When asked why the DMDK negotiated for an electoral alliance with the AIADMK and the DMK simultaneously, she replied, “When there is a girl of marriageable age in a family, obviously everyone will talk to them (for an alliance). The same applies in politics as well.”
Ms. Premalatha also hit out at DMK treasurer Durai Murugan for claiming that the two district secretaries of the DMDK met him for alliance talks. “Assume that they did come there for alliance talks, you (Durai Murugan) are a senior politician. When they (DMDK leaders) went inside his house to speak to him, the media was not there. How did the media arrive there when they finished speaking?,” she asked.
“The DMK wants to take revenge on the DMDK. It’s a conspiracy against us by the DMK,” she said and also slammed DMK president M.K. Stalin. “When Karunanidhi was admitted at the hospital, Captain (Vijayakant) wanted to meet him, but Stalin didn’t allow him. When Rajinikanth called on ‘Captain’ now, Stalin immediately wanted to come and meet him. We allowed him to meet him,” she said.