TTV Dhinakaran, who leads the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK), a faction that broke away from the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), on Thursday said he would consider allying with national parties for the 2024 general elections.
Dhinakaran called for an alliance to “defeat the evil force that is the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)”.
The leader clarified that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had no role in the AMMK withdrawing their candidate for the Erode East bypoll. He said the party did so as they were not allotted the symbol of choice by the Election Commission of India.
“I’m not saying that we should all merge but we should form a coalition. All those hoping to defeat the evil force that is the DMK should form an alliance,” Dhinakaran said on Thursday.
The bypoll is being touted as a testing ground ahead of the 2024 polls. “If approached, we may go for an alliance otherwise we will contest alone. There are three options for us,” the leader said.
He further stated that they will not be a part of an alliance if the DMK is a part of it. The Congress is the DMK’s primary ally in Tamil Nadu in Erode-east.
These comments are significant as the AMMK has, in several constituencies, eaten into the AIADMK’s votes since the 2019 assembly elections – a split in votes that the BJP hopes to avoid. Despite the BJP’s desire to form an alliance between Dhinakaran and ousted leader VK Sasikala ahead of the 2021 assembly elections, AIADMK leader Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) has been staunchly against doing business with those expelled.
But there have been signs of attempts at rapprochement in the past month. Even a week ago, when the BJP met EPS and his rival O Panneerselvam (OPS), urging them to unite, Dhinakaran and Sasikala were quick to react on the same day, agreeing with the saffron party’s plans.
On February 7, Dhinakaran had announced withdrawal of their party’s candidate, because the ECI did not allot them their desired symbol – pressure cooker. This had raised questions on whether the party had done so on behest of the BJP.
The AMMK and the OPS faction’s withdrawal of candidature has ensured that there is an AIADMK candidate, from the EPS faction, fighting on the party’s two leaves symbol. People in the know of the matter said in theory, this means the anti Congress-DMK alliance votes are not split, with the BJP choosing not to name a candidate itself.
“If the ECI had given us the pressure cooker symbol, we would have contested the bypoll. There is no politics in this. No one spoke to me and I haven’t done this for anyone,” Dhinakaran said.
“I spoke to lawyers in Delhi but they said it may not be possible to approach the Supreme Court and get a solution in two days time,” he added.
Nominations for the bypoll, which is slated for February 27, ended on February 7. The results will be announced on March 2.
