Premalatha Vijayakant softens tone against AIADMK, says DMDK still in alliance

DMDK treasurer Premalatha Vijayakant who has made rather abrasive statements against her supposed allies, PMK and AIADMK in the last week, held a press conference on Sunday to ensure damage control. While maintaining that the party's alliance with the AIADMK was intact till that very minute, she went on to state that talks over seat sharing must begin immediately.

Premalatha's aggressive stance with regard to her supposed allies was on full display over the last week. In Dharmapuri she had alleged that Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami was not chosen by the people and that everyone knew how he became the Chief Minister. And in a meeting with party leaders on Saturday, the DMDK chief's wife claimed that the party will not be part of an alliance that the PMK is part of. She further told her partymen to begin preparing for elections in all 234 constituencies.

On Sunday however, Premalatha offered a more toned down version of the party's stance, beginning with explaining why she had claimed 'support' for former AIADMK general secretary VK Sasikala.

"As a woman, I expressed my support for her," Premalatha told the media. "This is not about me speaking for Sasikala or speaking against the AIADMK. She has been in jail for four years and has fallen ill. So, I expressed support as a woman," she claimed.

Regarding the alliance with AIADMK meanwhile, she urged the party to begin talks with allies soon in order to decide upon seat sharing.

"We are in the AIADMK alliance till this very minute. I maintain the same. But because alliance talks are getting delayed, we are not benefitting at all. In April, the election may happen and the government could come to power in May. They should not delay talks any further. AIADMK is leading the alliance and they should start talks," she said.

She however did express her opposition to the PMK's demand of 20% reservation for the Vanniyar community, which constitutes their vote bank.

"Everyone here is from one caste or the other. If one caste asks for 20% then all castes have the right to the same benefit. If everyone starts asking for this, you can imagine how this will proceed. As far as Captain is concerned our politics is beyond caste, religion and language. We are all the same," she argued. "Will this succeed or not, we have to see.  Before our general body meeting we need to hold talks with the AIADMK.  Very soon, Captain will give an announcement regarding everything."