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The intense disagreement between father and son in a Tamil Nadu party enjoying community patronage means alliances can swing anyway in the coming polls
Anbumani Ramadoss (right) is rebelling against his father and the party’s founder Ramadoss (extreme left). (PTI)
The Paatali Makkal Katchi (PMK) is undergoing severe leadership disagreement at the moment, with Anbumani Ramadoss, the son, rebelling against his father and the party’s founder, Ramadoss.
Through a press conference, the father had alleged extreme pressure from the son in alliance decisions and party affairs, besides delivering a strong assertion as to who holds the reins. Anbumani, meanwhile, has asserted his own position as president, reinstalling leaders expelled by his father.
Party seniors are expressing distress, while political analysts speculate if this is heading towards a vertical split in one of Tamil Nadu’s largest parties enjoying a solid community patronage.
What is not apparent but true is the larger meaning from the conflict underway at the PMK.
As a party that vacillated between both Dravidian majors and was pitched as an alternative to both in 2016 (Change, Development, Anbumani was the slogan), the PMK has had a circuitous path over the last decade.
The question of whom to ally with—or to strike out independently—has always dogged the party.
Now, arriving as it does around a year ahead of state elections, this could be a symptom of state alliance equations undergoing a reset.
Tamil Nadu as a political arena has a certain duality in character. In choosing their next chief minister, the people have by and large alternated between the DMK and the AIADMK—the two Dravidian parties. At the same time, they have never shied away from a strong vote of confidence for a newcomer. Particularly, if said newcomer hails from Tinseltown and has captured hearts, speaking from the celluloid long before entering the fray formally. In short, they seem to remain with the incumbents, yet encourage challengers.
The challenger of today is actor Vijay and he has taken a clear mark at the ruling forces in the state and Center.
Whenever the DMK-AIADMK tug of war is disturbed by a new entrant, a ripple starts to spread in other regional parties.
The PMK’s intense disagreement could have—at its core—the question of allying with the AIADMK-BJP combine to present a strong opposition to the DMK. Or, should the party not get pulled in by the BJP and weigh its options independently?
From the BJP’s perspective, playing the arithmetic game makes sense, given the fact that the DMK leads in the narrative sense—a state suffering the might of institutions and the ED while protecting language, education, and state autonomy. With the PMK holding a strong vote base in the northern districts and the BJP chief being from the deep South, and the AIADMK taking care of the West (kongu belt), the BJP should be congratulating itself for putting together a formidable alliance (should the PMK choose to ally).
Leader of the VCK, Thol Thirumavalavan, had recently said the party is not averse to bold decisions, but the current attacks on it are motivated to destabilise the DMK Front. The party recently lost a leader to actor Vijay’s TVK.
Should the TVK take away even a minor fraction of the DMK Front’s bank from the oppressed communities, would that not weaken an alliance successful for over six years now? And how would such a deep realignment not play on the minds of all regional parties, including the PMK?
The current turmoil within the PMK should be seen in the light of the new forces at play in Tamil Nadu and how they might reset electoral alliances we had assumed for sure.
In the run-up to the polls, more symptoms may arise of this reset and how leaders will react in posturing before an audience with more choices in the polling booths, come same time next year.
Poornima Murali, Senior Special Correspondent at CNN-News18, has reported for over a decade on civic and political issues in Tamil Nadu. She has been helming the Chennai bureau for the channel for years now. A …Read More
Poornima Murali, Senior Special Correspondent at CNN-News18, has reported for over a decade on civic and political issues in Tamil Nadu. She has been helming the Chennai bureau for the channel for years now. A … Read More
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