Though DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi had said his party "would not align with the Congress" in the Lok Sabha elections, talks are doing the rounds of a Congress, DMK and DMDK tie-up. (File photo)
With the DMK, Congress and BJP still scouting for allies in Tamil Nadu, there seems to be no clarity on political parties that would join hands to emerge as a formidable combine to fight the Lok Sabha polls against the ruling AIADMK.
The AIADMK headed by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa is all set for the elections as the party has already sewed up an alliance with the Left parties.
Though DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi had said his party "would not align with the Congress" in the Lok Sabha elections as it was an "ungrateful" ally, talks are doing the rounds of a Congress, DMK and DMDK tie-up. "We are holding talks with several people at several levels," Tamil Nadu Congress Committee President B S Gnanadesikan told PTI, adding, "no party had formally finalised the pre-poll arrangement for seat-sharing or alliance."
Amid uncertainty over DMK forging alliance with Congress, leaders from the grand old party are hoping against hope that the 2009 arrangement would "revive." Congress had won six seats in the last Lok Sabha polls in alliance with DMK which was in power in the state at that time.
If the Congress wants DMK on its side, it will have to agree to the latter's demand for allowing actor-turned- politician Vijayakanth-led DMDK to come into its fold. This has not fructified so far.
DMK has till now finalised alliance with the Indian Union Muslim League, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, Manithaneyaneya Makkal Katchi, and Puthiya Tamizhagam. It is now concentrating on its Tiruchirappalli conference on February 15 and 16.
DMK, which says that a conference in Tamil Nadu's central city of Tiruchi had always been a turning point for it, hopes that DMDK would "see reason" and join hands with it so that it could boost its prospects and improve its tally of 16 seats that it won in 2009. Similarly, Congress and BJP have also been wooing the DMDK.
The BJP has been successful in forging ties with the MDMK led by Vaiko and the fledgling western region-based Kongu Nadu Makkal Desiya Katchi and the Indiya Jananayaka Katchi but it is yet to find a stronger political partner.
Meanwhile, with regard to its efforts to rope in the S Ramadoss-led PMK, the BJP is finding itself in a tight corner as that party is keen on contesting ten Lok Sabha seats, for which it had already announced candidates, of the 39 in Tamil Nadu.
Though BJP has been holding road shows and has brought its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on a couple of occasions to address public rallies, which comparatively had a good turnout of people, its presence is not visible in Tamil Nadu barring southern Kanyakumari and pockets in western Coimbatore districts.
On progress in talks, BJP State President Pon Radhakrishnan said "when the alliance is getting firmed up, it is normal practice that any political party may have to compromise; we are sure DMDK and PMK will join hands with us."
As of now, it is the AIADMK which seems to be on a surer footing and raring to go with a target to win "all the 40 seats" (39 in Tamil Nadu and one in Puducherry), so that their party leader Jayalalithaa could play a greater role in the national political scene after the election.