Chennai: PMK Chief Ministerial candidate Dr Anbumani Ramadoss' race for the alternative space in Tamil Nadu may be getting tougher with the People's Welfare Alliance said to be picking up momentum in the last few weeks.
The Assembly elections are unique as it is a fight also for the third spot, besides the power to rule the state. Political analyst Nelson Xavier refers to a TV survey to assert that there is a wide space for alternative front in Tamil Nadu.
He said the survey, done recently by News 7 Tamil, found that the public support for the AIADMK and the DMK were found to around 22-24 per cent in quite a number of constituencies leaving a large amount of voters wishing to vote for a third party or front that can provide a change. The survey, however, found that while different parties have backing in different regions, there is no single entity throughout the State that can challenge the two Dravidian parties.
It was this alternative space the PMK targeted with a campaign that began over a year ago and caused ripples through conferences and well planned mass contact programmes, besides of course the Obama-type posters of Dr Anbumani as the Messiah of positive change.
The party tried to break free from the image of being just a Vanniyar outfit and zealously tried to reach out beyond its traditional territories in the northern districts to attract neutral and young voters. The PMK campaign was picking up momentum when the PWA seemed to be struggling to take off. The situation may have changed now as the PWA is said to be attracting the voters disenchanted with the AIADMK and DMK, say analysts.
Dr Anbumani could be aware the contest is getting tighter and is coming down heavily on the PWA while denying that the latter is elbowing out the PMK. In his latest comments, he called any idea of PWA overtaking his campaign as mere illusion and reserved his special attack for the VCK.
Reacting, VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan said, “It is Anbumani who is living under illusions. The very idea that he won in Dharmapuri on his own is an illusion. He had won there due to the bloodshed of Dalits after a clash in the area, that too with the support of actor Vijayakanth's DMDK and due to a pro-Modi wave. He thinks, since he is young, the youth will be attracted to him. His acid comments on us show that he is envious of the PWA “.
Most political analysts are predicting that the PWA may score over PMK even if they cannot make a dent on the two Dravidian majors. Social commentator A Marx said, “I observe that youth and neutral voters who dislike the AIADMK and DMK are moving towards the PWA which has leaders with a clean and progressive image cutting across religions and castes. PMK's efforts to break its Vanniyar party image may not have succeeded. Can the PMK announce it has no connection with the Vanniyar Sangam?”
However, PMK spokesperson K Balu challenged this perception and said PMK's strength will be known when the election results are declared.
“Barring the AIADMK and DMK, we are the only party that can secure over 70.000 votes in a single constituency. Parties in the PWA, Vijayakanth or Congress do not have such a vote share”, he said, asserting, “As the election gets nearer, we will race ahead of the PWA and other parties”.
There is a third contender for the third slot in TN politics, though he insists he is in no hurry. Naam Thamizhar's Seeman is dismissive of both the PMK and the PWA, saying that only a new force could be the alternative. All the other parties which vie for alternative space had aligned with the AIADMK and DMK in the past, he said and asked, “How can they provide an alternative?”
