Tamil Nadu polls: Captain Vijayakanth fights dissidence in party over PWA alliance

Chennai: The DMDK MLA and propaganda secretary V.C. Chandrakumar, along with six district secretaries, issued an ultimatum to party leader Vijayakanth on Tuesday to reconsider the alliance with the People's Welfare Alliance and join the DMK front to defeat AIADMK in the forthcoming Assembly elections. Reacting immediately, Vijayakanth removed all the dissidents from the party, making it clear he is rejecting their ultimatum and that the alliance with PWA is irrevocable.

With 6 of 50 district secretaries raising a banner of revolt, the DMDK, formed in 2005, appears to be heading for a split on the eve of the Assembly elections. There are reports that more functionaries are waiting to ditch Vijayakanth and join Chandrakumar. Two of the district secretaries are MLAs and two district secretaries have already joined the DMK. It is not known if Chandrakumar and his followers will join the DMK or make claims to be the real DMDK.

Vijayakanth is the party's vote catcher and cadre's hero, but the DMDK could still be in trouble if the rebels forced a split and go on to freeze the party's 'drum' symbol. Captain has now nominated A.V. Arumugam (Tiruvallur East) MLA Babu Miurugavel (Tiruvannamalai North), Sridhar (Vellore Central), B. Anandbabu (Salem West), P.K. Subramani (Erode North) and P. Gopal (Erode East) as district in charge.