DMK-led NDA likely to be strengthened

By Suresh Nambath

CHENNAI, JULY 25. With the Lok Sabha elections more than three years away and the Assembly election almost five years away, the PMK re-admission into the NDA does not change electoral equations much. But, apart from paving the way for the PMK to gain Ministerial berths at the Centre, the new situation strengthens the DMK-led NDA in the State, which is still recovering from the AIADMK's landslide victory in the recent Assembly elections.

From the beginning, the PMK's quarrel was not with the NDA or the BJP, but against the DMK's domineering attitude. Not surprisingly, when it quit the NDA to join hands with the AIADMK just before the Assembly elections, the party founder, Dr. S. Ramadoss, was all praise for the BJP and the Prime Minister, Mr. A.B. Vajpayee.

Evidently, it was hoping to get back into the NDA at some point or the other after the elections. However, it planned to re-enter the NDA along with the AIADMK after edging out the DMK. But, the recent events which followed the politically

ill-conceived arrest of the DMK president, Mr. M. Karunanidhi, ruled out that possibility. After the BJP was forced to give up any attempt to keep options open, the NDA stood solidly behind the DMK. That, surely, left the PMK with little choice but to leave the AIADMK and re-enter the NDA.

Though the relationship with the AIADMK soured on the issue of denial of Rajya Sabha seat to Dr. Ramadoss' son, Dr. R. Anbumani, the spat was only waiting to happen.

Once the PMK decided to quit the secular front, the DMK was only happy to accommodate it. By now, the DMK appears to have learnt the electoral arithmetic to take on the strong AIADMK-headed combine.

Though the State BJP made some noise against the PMK entry move, this was more by way of taking time to forget the bitter past rather than any strong ideological opposition. Now, the only party that needs to be reconciled to the new realities is the Dalit Panthers of India, which will find it difficult to co-exist with the Vanniar-dominated PMK.

But no hasty decision is likely from the DPI which has been reassured by the DMK and the BJP that the PMK will not have dominance in the NDA.

Just as the PMK is an important addition to the opposition camp, the AIADMK front will find its brute majority diluted a little. This will mean that the AIADMK will be more at the mercy of the TMC, the Congress and the Left parties.

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Section  : Southern States
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