Madurai: Major political parties in Tamil Nadu may be waiting to hear from DMDK chief Vijayakanth on whose side he will cast his electoral dice for the coming Assembly elections. The ‘Captain’ in the meantime seems to be seeking counsel — from God.
He along with his wife Premalatha has been visiting major temples, including their family deity, in southern districts for the last two days.
In the wee hours on Wednesday, the couple visited Meenakshi Amman temple along with a few DMDK functionaries, and prayed for nearly an hour by placing the state conference invitation at the feet of the presiding deity.
He is visiting temples with the invitation ahead of the conference scheduled for February 20 at Kancheepuram.
Vijayakanth also spent an hour praying after placing the invitation before the deity at the famous Andal temple at Srivilliputhur in Virudhunagar district on Tuesday evening. When party functionaries at Srivilliputhur tried to ask him about the alliance, Premalatha intervened and asked them to wait till the conference. She also told them to pray for the conference’s success.
Sources close to Vijayakanth said he would arrive at a final decision on major political issues only after offering prayer for his family deity Veera Chinnammal at Kangeyanathan village near Thirumangalam at Madurai and paying visit to these two temples.
In fact, he visited the family deity first on Tuesday morning before visiting other temples. “During the previous Assembly elections, he announced his alliance with AIADMK only after visiting these shrines,” said a DMDK functionary.
“Vijayakanth has a special love for Andal temple because his mother was named after the presiding deity. He visits the temple at least five times in a year,” said sources adding he had also named his colleges and film production house in the name of Andal. As he grew up in Madurai, Vijayakanth has fondness for the Meenakshi Amman temple.
Meanwhile, DMDK functionaries are also eagerly waiting to hear the final decision from their leader to start the preparatory work for the polls.
“We will accept whatever our leader decides,” they said. However, they added that unless they ally with a political party which has a strong base in Tamil Nadu, it would be difficult for DMDK to secure more MLA seats.
