Tamil Nadu - Chennai   

Vaiko felt "unwanted"

V. Jayanth

Vaiko

CHENNAI: It has been a tortuous month for the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) leader, Vaiko. At the end of a confusing and turbulent season, he has finally chosen to part ways with his parent party, the DMK, and present a bouquet to AIADMK leader and Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. It is not new for Vaiko. He was an AIADMK ally in the 1998 Lok Sabha election. Yet, it was "a painful, but inescapable decision now," he told The Hindu .

Although he had issued a statement a fortnight ago to say that he would remain with the DMK-led Democratic Progressive Alliance (DPA), he and his party apparently found it "impossible" to continue in the front.

So, egged on by his party functionaries, Mr. Vaiko chose the other option: Drive into Poes Garden and make up with Ms. Jayalalithaa. It has no doubt been a difficult decision to make, but Mr. Vaiko feels he was "driven to it," because the DMK "virtually forced him out," and made him feel "unwanted." After all, Mr. Vaiko has described the MDMK as "O Positive blood that could match anybody."

Mr. Vaiko has basically explained the reversal of the announced decision and his shift to the AIADMK front in terms of putting his party first. As he could not convince his district secretaries, party functionaries, and cadres to stay with the DPA, he had no choice but to move to the AIADMK front to prevent an imminent split in the MDMK. His colleagues paint this as a "democratic decision" to go with the party sentiment. Sources close to the MDMK leader however insist: "It was painful. He cried to put the smile back on his colleagues' face. After the POTA case and the 19 months of incarceration, it is not an easy task to go with the AIADMK. That only shows to what extent he felt insulted by the DMK. Also, the kind of pressure the party functionaries brought to bear on him."

In the DMK camp, there was a sense of relief — it was all over. Another 22 seats were now available to be shared among the five other DPA constituents and the DMK would try to keep a little over 130 seats for itself. "His departure only strengthens the alliance and makes it a more united and homogenous front," a senior DMK functionary said from Tiruchi. He asserted that it was Mr. Vaiko's credibility that had now been undermined.

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