The AMMK and DMDK have come together to ensure the defeat of the DMK, an “evil force,” and the AIADMK, a “force of betrayal,” AMMK general secretary T.T.V. Dhinakaran reiterated on Wednesday.
“This is our sole objective,” the AMMK leader said, after calling on DMDK founder Vijayakant and treasurer Premalatha Vijayakant at the DMDK headquarters in Chennai.
Denying the suggestion that the alliance was worked out in a hurried manner, Mr. Dhinakaran claimed that talks went on for 10-15 days. There were “legitimate issues” in identifying and allocating 60 constituencies. It was the “give and take” policy adopted by workers and district-level functionaries of the two parties that had facilitated the tie-up. He cited the example of the Vridhachalam constituency, which was sought by the DMDK for Mrs Vijayakant. “When I had conveyed this to my party’s zonal in-charge, he got the consent of my party’s candidate in no time. With a view to accommodating the DMDK into our front, 42 of my party’s nominees have willingly come forward to withdraw their candidature,” the AMMK leader explained.
Asked why he chose not to contest in the R.K. Nagar assembly constituency from where he was elected in a by-poll in December 2017, Mr. Dhinakaran claimed that he had wanted to contest from there but his party’s office-bearers advised him to avoid it, as he had decided to contest from Kovilpatti in the southern region.
The AMMK leader termed as “empty promises” several electoral assurances of the DMK and the AIADMK.