Sidelined AIADMK leader TTV Dinakaran sought to play down party's decision.
'The DMK may get a little more than 50% of the minority vote.' 'The AIADMK always gets over 10% of the minority vote.'
'If he has not achieved 'Congress mukt Bharat' even now, the question of his creating a 'DMK mukt Tamil Nadu' does not arise,' points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
The ruling AIADMK is leaving no stone unturned to win the Vellore Lok Sabha poll and push its tally to two in the state, with its candidate even donning the skull cap to woo minority votes. But the DMK's stars are clearly on the ascendant in the lone constituency that goes to the polls on August 5. A Ganesh Nadar reports.
There may be those who could want to go slow, citing the large pendency of follow-up action and court cases that they would have to process and/or proceed with, before raiding more politicians, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
AIADMK candidate Daniel Sachin Mani, contesting from the 35th ward of Perambur constituency, dressed up as party founder MGR.
Expelled AIADMK leader V K Sasikala on Monday returned to Tamil Nadu to a grand reception, days after completing her four-year jail term in Bengaluru in a corruption case, amid indications of a confrontation with the ruling party which she once controlled.
'If they really wanted to give him competition, the AIADMK should have contested the seat, not its ally the PMK.'
A G Perarivalan alias Arivu is now a free man following a legal battle, and that long fight provides scope for throwback moments of Tamil sentiment that propelled the struggle which was backed by most political parties and successive governments in Tamil Nadu.
Attacking the Tamil Nadu chief minister over a host of issues, including unemployment, he alleged that her rule was marked by corruption and that industries had migrated to other states
V K Sasikala, who was eased out of the AIADMK years ago, on Saturday paid homage at the mausoleum of former party supremo J Jayalalithaa here and cryptically remarked that she has 'unburdened' herself and the party has a bright future.
The coins will bear MGR's portrait in the centre along with the inscription 'DR M G Ramachandran Birth Centenary'.
Though another 75 candidates are in the fray, the Elangovan-Thennaruasu fight has become a prestige battle for the DMK and AIADMK, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Incidentally, Pannerselvam's call for unity also pertained to deposed AIADMK leader VK Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dhinakaran.
Should Sasikala seek to follow Jayalalithaa's footsteps in the matter, and if at all she is not disinterested in keeping the twin posts together, the by-election to Jayalalithaa's constituency R K Nagar could be the starting point, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The December 1996 raid came following a complaint by BJP's Subramaniam Swamy naming late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.
Observers are of the view that it would be a challenge for any leader to match their charisma and political influence.
With the Tamil Nadu electorate having given him an unprecedented mandate that had eluded his father the late M Karunanidhi, Stalin has to prove his worth, ensuring at the same time that the Dravidian drag on the AIADMK's side does not open up space for the BJP to make inroads in the state, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
If Vijaykanth and his party stole the media thunder, which lingered in the viewers' mind even while watching Prime Minister Modi's thunderous campaign speech, the latter suffered also owing to visible 'disconnects', says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'One quiver cannot have two different kinds of arrows.' 'The party cannot progress with two leaders.'
It does not stop here, though. According to field information, state ministers, AIADMK candidates and campaigners are asking BJP cadres accompanying them not to carry party flags at common rallies and also avoid their saffron shawl on those occasions. BJP cadres are also asked to stay out of the common campaign when it enters a minority-dominated areas, especially of Muslims, and re-join later, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagham leader is set to embark on a series of protests covering the Cauvery basin regions of Tamil Nadu beginning Saturday.
'There will be significant political traction for him. But how much, we don't know yet'
TTV Dinakaran's road to reaching the poll stage could still be strewn with legal difficulties, as much as political problems from other new players, like actors Kamal Hassan and Rajinikanth, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Asserting that the dharma yudham is on, Panneerselvam, popularly known as OPS said he and his followers would go to the people to seek justice.
In his first political remarks since December 31 last when he announced he will enter politics, Rajinikanth, who has a large fan following, said there was a 'vacuum for a good leader' in the state politics currently.
Purohit eventually cleared them only after obtaining legal opinion from the state Advocate General.
Tamil Nadu's voters wanted tough leaders at the helm, to the point of being autocratic. It was what Karunanidhi, MGR and Jayalalithaa ended up becoming, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Special prayers were held by All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam faithful on Friday seeking release of Jayalalithaa who was sentenced to four years in jail and slapped with a fine of Rs 100 crore by a Bangalore special court in the Rs 66.65 crore disproportionate assets case on September 27.
The prime minister said the opposition's hatred against him was reaching new levels daily and they have a competition over who abused him the most.
Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu are centred on chief ministerial candidates of rival parties. When Sasikala cannot contest even a panchayat election for six years after her release, even if she were to have sympathetic backers even among apolitical voters, she does not have any 'transferrable vote-bank' even otherwise for a chief minister candidate of her choice, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Palaniswami, Tamil Nadu's new CM was among the senior ministers who had proximity to Jayalalithaa.
"A letter addressed to the governor, bearing my signature, is being circulated stating that I will kill myself. I would like to say that this letter is fake. It shows that there are some people, who cannot tolerate a lady's entry in electoral politics," Sasikala said.
The BJP has been pushing the two AIADMK groups to merge and then get the Sasikala clan out of the party and government.
If anyone is targeting Sasikala or the AIADMK, then they should be looking elsewhere, not at Deepa for leading a revolt successfully, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
A time has thus come when state encouragement for rural students led to empowerment of the socio-economically marginalised sections of the population. It included women. Today, with greater exposure and consequent enlightenment, it has gone beyond 'empowerment' to become 'entitlement', says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Hindutva social media continues to present the DMK especially as anti-god, anti-Hindu and anti-Brahmin. The strategy did not work in the past, it has not worked in the present, and would not work in the future, as a massive vote-getter, asserts N Sathiya Moorthy.
"Chinnamma has given valuable suggestions to Amma regarding party administration and also on governance. Like this, the list of traits of Chinnamma can go on," he said.
Both Rajini and Kamal have to first convince the Tamil Nadu voters that even if they are entering active politics relatively late in life, they are here to stay, and are serious about politics, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
At a condolence meeting, organised by the South Indian Artistes' Association for the late CM, Rajinikanth also recalled his strong statements against her during the 1996 assembly polls, which had "hurt" her.
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