Vijayakanth steps out of shadows
DMDK chief has taken the lead to consolidate Opposition unity against AIADMK
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2015-04-27 05:50 GMT
Chennai: With an eye on the ensuing 2016 state Assembly polls, DMDK chief Vijayakanth has taken the lead to consolidate Opposition unity against the ruling AIADMK to boost the sagging morale of the party cadres.After facing a severe drubbing in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Vijayakanth limited himself to issuing mere statements rather than reviving the political fortunes of the party. In the last one year, the DMDK chief has gone out of the city on a political mission only on four occasions, while other political leaders were touring the state to strengthen their parties.
A DMDK legislator said he was surprised by Captain’s move. “He remains very unpredictable. When all the party MLAs were suspended from the Assembly, he chooses not to attend the session. Now, all of a sudden, he has taken the lead to rally the Opposition. We hope he will continue this approach to boost the morale of the cadres who were completely demoralised after last year's election result,” the legislator said.
The DMDK leader’s effort to rally together the Opposition parties has already triggered a speculation of formation of an anti-AIADMK front. Vijayakanth's failure to function has an effective Opposition leader would haunt him in future.In 2011 polls, DMDK emerged as a second biggest party in the Assembly and pushed the DMK to third spot. But he was not able to keep his party MLAs together and he also not able to scale up the party to the level of No. 2 party in the state.
Political commentator Bernard D' Sami said the DMDK leader's efforts to rally the Opposition shows that he is preparing for next year's Assembly polls. “Other than the AIADMK, there is no chance of other parties getting a respectable or good number of seats. I think he is kind of building up a grand alliance,” he said, noting that the Opposition party delegation is like testing the political waters of the state before the 2016 polls.