The sight of people carrying Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) flags during Chief Minister and TVK president C Joseph Vijay’s roadshow in Madurantakam on Friday has added fresh fuel to speculation that the PMK could be warming up to the ruling TVK.
The presence of PMK flags during Vijay’s campaign is being closely watched because the party has a support base in Madurantakam.
Any transfer of a section of PMK votes could influence a contest where the AIADMK is seeking to retain the seat it won only a few months ago. Kumaravel had won the seat for AIADMK in the Assembly election before resigning as MLA, quitting the party and joining TVK. The PMK fought the April Assembly election as part of the AIADMK-led alliance. The PMK has four MLAs, making its position politically significant. Madurantakam is also a prestige battle for AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami. She has now been renominated by TVK, triggering allegations of horse-trading from the opposition – a charge denied by the ruling party. For Vijay, the stakes are particularly high as he heads a minority government that is short of the majority mark. A victory in Madurantakam and Dharapuram would not immediately bridge the entire gap but could give the ruling party important political momentum and set the tone for the bypolls to the other five vacant seats, whenever they are held. Those polls have been held up by pending election-related cases. TVK has been projecting itself as the new alternative to the AIADMK and DMK, while attacking the AIADMK as a declining force after Jayalalithaa’s death. For the PMK, neutrality could preserve its bargaining space irrespective of the bypoll outcome. If TVK benefits from a section of PMK supporters, the PMK could point to its neutral position and the consequent vote transfer. If TVK loses, the party could argue that it had not committed its organisational support to the ruling party.
Because the party has a support base in Madurantakam, yet, the presence of PMK flags during Vijay’s campaign is being closely watched. But for the October 6 bypolls, the party has chosen to remain neutral – neither supporting the AIADMK nor fielding candidates in Madurantakam and Dharapuram.
The party has also accused EPS of attempting to forge an alliance with the DMK before the Assembly election to prevent TVK from forming the government – an allegation Palaniswami has denied.
