AIADMK Sends Feelers to Congress

Chennai: The split between the AIADMK and BJP has triggered a flurry of political activity in the State giving rise to possibilities for electoral realignments as most parties have started devising strategies for the 2024 elections by trying to finalize allies also the number of constituencies from which they would field candidates at the earliest.

The political grapevine has it that the AIADMK, around which not many parties seem to rally around now, is reaching out to the Congress for an alliance since it has come out of the BJP’s stranglehold. Feelers have been sent across through a common link – political strategist now helping out the Congress in Karnataka.

Since the strategist had earlier worked for the AIADMK (for the DMK also) in the State, it has made use of him to approach the Congress. Though top Congress leaders like Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are keen on the party continuing its alliance with the DMK in the State, seat allocation could prove to be a thorn in the flesh.

Till very recently, the DMK had been exhorting the Congress to reduce its share of seats from the 10 it contested in 2019, while TNCC president K S Alagiri had a few days back said that they would be demanding more seats in 2024.

Even the other allies of the DMK have expressed a desire to increase the number of seats for them in the elections and when the demand is made in the run up to the polls that could possibly lead to friction in the DMK-led front that the AIADMK might take advantage of.

As of now the AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, feeling confident of a decline in the ruling party’s popularity, has wanted to field his party candidates against all the DMK candidates. A one-to-one fight between DMK and AIADMK would make voters prefer the opposition party, he feels.

The BJP, which has managed to keep most of its erstwhile allies in its fold despite the walkout by the AIADMK, is keen on finalizing the seats that the party would be contesting on its own at the earliest. However, the state president, K Annamalai, would have to take the approval of the high command in Delhi.

Once Delhi's nod is obtained for the candidates and the constituencies, the State unit might start the campaign quite early in those seats. Since the DMDK and PMK that had kept a distance from the NDA for some time have now returned to the BJP fold, they feel that their alliance has been strengthened.

Though there are not many indications of major floor crossings between the NDA and INDIA coalition, if the Congress decides to move over to the AIADMK that might offer more seats to contest it could lead to some realignments even at the national level for it would not be impossible for the DMK and AIADMK to be in the same coalition.

If the Congress switches over to the AIADMK side, the BJP-led front in the State, too, might pose a challenge to the DMK coalition since it has a long line up of parties, though it might not lead to a situation as envisaged by Annamalai, who said the fight in 2024 would be between the BJP and DMK.

Both the parties would be trying to woo voters on the basis of the achievements of their governments – one for 10 years and the other for three years - he had said.