CHENNAI: The Indhiya Jananayaga Katchi (IJK) led by TR Pachamuthu has joined hands with the DMK for this Lok Sabha election. Till the 2014 Lok Sabha election the party had been with the BJP.
Expressing support to the DMK-led alliance IJK founder Pachamuthu alias Paari Vendar said, “In the present situation, Stalin alone can bring in agood change in Tamil Nadu. We have expressed our support to the DMK-led alliance but did not demand any seat. If the seat-sharing committee of the DMK calls for talks, we will engage ourselves,” he said after meeting DMK president MK Stalin at party headquarters here.
In a reply to a question as to why he chose to support DMK since he had been with the BJP for a long time, Pachamuthu said “we can’t be part of the alliance where PMK is present since that party has been inimical to us.”
The IJK was part of the seven-party rainbow alliance formed by the BJP in Tamil Nadu before the 2014 Lok Sabha election. Asked about the sudden exit of the IJK from its alliance, a BJP senior said, “It doesn’t cause any setback to us. That party’s presence had hardly been of use in improving our vote share when it contested with us during the previous Lok Sabha election.”
Apart from IJK, this time, BJP’s former ally viz. Vaiko’s MDMK has now switched loyalties to the DMK which has held preliminary discussions with it on seat-sharing.
