After his announcement on March 11th that his party will go solo this assembly elections, Thursday’s decision by DMDK to join hands with PWF has come as a surprise to many. However, many political analysts feel that this alliance will be a huge blow to DMK and will split the anti-AIADMK votes.
According to the terms, while the DMDK will contest in 124 seats, the PWF will contest in 110 seats. The big negotiation victory for Vijayakanth is definitely the announcement that he will be the CM candidate for the alliance.
Gnani Sankaran, Political Analyst:
“This move is bad for DMK as they do not have DMDK with them but one cannot say it is an advantage for AIADMK as we do not know how much people’s credibility this alliance will gain. So, we have to wait for next one or two months. The votes will get divided with more number of alliances and parties contesting like DMK, AIADMK, BJP, PWA and PMK. Not just the anti-DMK votes, but the anti-AIADMK votes will also get divided.”
TN Gopalan, Senior Journalist:
“It will be advantage Amma, as the alliance will split anti-AIADMK votes. But more importantly, PWA has absolutely lost what credibility it might have had by joining hands with Vijayakanth. On one hand, PWA is saying that they are an alternative to the AIADMK and the DMK, but on the other they are joining hands are with equally opportunist and corrupt formations. Even if Thirumavalavan can be treated on a special footing, as he represents the most oppressed segment of the population, both Vaiko and Vijaykanth have had little scruples in the past in dealing with issues, been with the communal BJP as also with a corrupt and whimsical Jayalalithaa. At least Vaiko is known for his tamil nationalist politics, but pray what Vijaykanth is known for? Thus the addition of the DMDK is a body blow to the prestige of the left."
Dr. Ravindran Duraisamy, Political Analyst
“If one goes by the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, this alliance is advantageous for AIADMK but if one analyzes the 2006, 2009 and 2011 voting patterns, it can become advantageous to DMK- Congress alliance,” he said.
In 2006, DMDK stood alone for the elections and DMK-Congress gained 35 percent votes. In 2009, DMDK won 10 percent votes and DMK-Congress alliance won 42 percent vote. In 2011, DMK-Congress alliance won 32 percent votes.
Talking about the PWF-DMDK alliance, he said, “It is a good strategy by PWF to project Vijayakanth as a leader for the elections. They have given more than 50 percent seats.”
R Mani, Senior Journalist:
“This will definitely divide the votes but the question is who will this benefit. It is not an easy proposition to say that it will benefit AIADMK. The anti-AIADMK votes will get split in four or five way. This is slightly advantageous for Amma. This is a big blow for DMK."
“The PWF-DMDK alliance have a lot of ground level problems. Over 90 percent of the DMDK party members wanted to go with the DMK. So, Vijayakanth has started swimming against the strong currents, one can imagine what happens when one starts swimming against the current. MDMK has almost depleted, Vaiko is a weak wicket so whatever comes it will be an advantage for his party.”