New alignment emerges in Tamilnadu & Pondicherry : Election Backgrounder 5
Tamil Nadu will witness a mainly bipolar contest in the coming General Elections. With the announcement of the election dates, the alignment among the major political parties have been almost finalized in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry. BJP has tied up with the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) while the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) with a combine that includes the Congress, the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), CPI, CPM and the Indian Union Muslim League.
Tamilnadu has 39 seats and Pondicherry one. Giving seven seats including the Union Territory to the BJP, AIADMK has retained 33 seats. On the other front, the DMK will fight for 15 seats, Congress 10, PMK 6 (including Pondicherry), MDMK 4, CPI 2, CPM 2 and IUML one. Smaller regional parties are putting together a third front including Puthiya Thamizhagam led by Dr. Krishnaswamy, the Dalit Panthers of India led by Thirumavalavan and the Makkal Tamil Desam led by Kannapan. Another alliance, by Janata Dal (United) and some smaller parties will also be in the fray.
In the 1999 Lok Sabha elections, the DMK bagged 12 seats, followed by the AIADMK 10, PMK 5, MDMK 4, BJP 4, Congress 3, CPM one and MGR ADMK of S. Tirunvukkarasar one. Shri Tirunvukkarasar later joined the BJP. After the death of BJP member Rangarajan Kumaramangalam, the Tiruchirapalli seat, held by him, went to AIADMK in the by-election.
There has been a sea change in the alignment of political parties for the current Lok Sabha elections. While the DMK, PMK and the MDMK, quit the ruling NDA and chose the Congress as partner along with the CPI,CPM and the IUML, the BJP has tied up with the AIADMK. The direct fight in most of the constituencies will be between the DMK and the AIADMK led fronts with the two parties clashing in 14 constituencies. The AIADMK will battle it out with the Congress in nine seats, with the MDMK in four, PMK in three, and in one seat each with the CPI, CPM and the IUML. The BJP will clash with the PMK in three seats, and in one seat each with the DMK, CPI, CPM and the Congress.
Regional and smaller parties having tasted power at the Centre and with coalition governments appearing to be a possibility in future also, the bargain for seats has been very tough. While in the seventies and the eighties the DMK and AIADMK gave away the bulk of the 40 seats to the Congress, now it is not so.
Election heat is already on with some political parties announcing their candidates and the rest to release the names in the next few days. Posters and cut-outs of leaders and candidates have started appearing and street corner meetings are taking place to draw the attention of the voters. With partners of previous alliances breaking up and yesterday’s opponents becoming today’s allies totally new issues are expected to dominate the poll agenda.
The leaders will hit the campaign trail soon and go through the gruelling drive of meetings from dawn to late night, traversing through all the major and smaller towns and key villages of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry. While familiar faces of national and local leaders will lead the campaign, a few will be missed. Prominent among them are Rangarajan Kumarmangalam of the BJP, Murasoli Maran of the DMK, Karuppiah Mooppanar of the Congress and Nedumchezhian of the AIADMK, who are no more.