Premalatha Vijayakanth Appointed General Secretary of DMDK in Surprise Move
Premalatha Vijayakanth chosen as the General Secretary of DMDK, with founder Vijayanth retaining a pivotal role in alliance decisions
Chennai: In a surprise move, Premalatha Vijayakanth was selected unanimously as the general secretary of Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) on Thursday at the party’s main meeting of the executive and general council members held at GPM Palace Marriage Hall at Thiruverkadu.
The founder and erstwhile general secretary of the party, Vijayanth, will continue in the titular post of founder and also take all key decisions relating to alliances for the coming Lok Sabha elections.
Soon after the meeting was called to order, the announcement of Premalatha’s elevation – she is the treasurer of the party for quite some time – was made and she fell at the feet of Vijayakanth to seek his blessings.
Though Vijayakanth has been doing well in terms of health and the party was run by Premalatha, not many expected her to be made the general secretary now. The notice for the meeting said that Premalatha would address the gathering after holding discussions on the future plans for the party.
However, it looks that she would be holding the reins of the party that came into existence in 2005 as an alternative to the two Dravidian majors – DMK and AIADMK – when their iconic leaders M Karunanidhi and J Jayalalaithaa were fully active in politics.
A popular actor, Vijayakanth, said that his party would go it alone in the elections initially and in the 2006 Assembly polls it contested in all the 234 constituencies. Vijayakanth alone was elected to the Assembly while the party garnered 8.38 per cent votes.
In 2009 Assembly elections, the party aligned with the AIADMK and won 29 of 40 seats it contested from. But the party faced defections and lost the opposition status.
For the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the party was in an alliance with the BJP and it lost its vote share. To add to the woes of the party, Vijayakanth became ill and Premalatha was running the show for him. In the last 2021 Assembly election it was in an alliance with the AMMK of T T V Dinakaran and fared very poorly in the polls.
Now it is gearing up to face the 2024 Lok Sabha polls under the leadership of Premalatha and the decision on alliance would be taken by Vijayakanth just ahead of the elections.