Chennai: With both the prime political camps in Tamil Nadu finalising their alliances for the ensuring Lok Sabha elections, all eyes are now on 'Captain' Vijayakanth to see which way the former Kollywood hero would swing. His wife Premalatha, who speaks most of the political content from the DMDK after his illness, had promised the media persons at the Chennai airport Sunday morning that Captain would take the alliance decision pretty soon, after consulting party seniors. He was tired after the long flight from the US, she explained.
"We have not approached anyone; only the others are approaching us", Premalatha had then insisted, trying to underscore the DMDK importance in the TN poll scene. The party vote share had dropped from 7.88 per cent in 2011 to a measly 2.4 per cent in 2016 and could have slipped further in view of the leader's health. His inability to actively campaign could be a big drawback; but then, the DMDK even in its most famished form could still be useful as an ally in a closely contested poll with high stakes.
Perhaps realising this, the DMDK leadership could be pitching its demands rather high and might even be negotiating with both the AIADMK/BJP and the DMK/Congress. Union Minister Piyush Goel drove to Vijayakanth's Saligramam bungalow on Tuesday and paid respects with flowers. Though he insisted to the media that there was no politics in that trip and he had gone there only to wish him great health, that was hardly convincing. DMK president M K Stalin appeared distinctly irritated when a reporter asked him at the media conference on Wednesday, when he announced the poll pact with the Congress at the Anna Arivalayam, whether the reports were true that the DMDK was going to join his team.
