Fissures in alliance, Jayalalithaa puts off poll campaign
March 18th, 2011 - 12:25 am ICT by IANSChennai, March 17 (IANS) Its seat-sharing discussions with upset allies not reaching any conclusion, AIADMK general secretary J.Jayalalithaa Thursday postponed her election campaign tour.
On Wednesday, Jayalalithaa had announced she would start her campaign from Madurai March 18.
The postponement has come mainly to placate her furious allies who started murmuring about a Third Front after AIADMK named the 160 seats it will contest in Tamil Nadu’s assembly elections Wednesday.
Leaders of some of the major allies in the AIADMK-led alliance held a meeting with actor and DMDK founder leader Vijayakant, the biggest ally of Jayalalithaa.
Queried about the meeting and whether a Third Front could come up, Vijayakant told reporters: “Everything will be decided tomorrow (Friday). We will have to discuss with everybody before coming to a decision.”
The AIADMK-led combine was set to take on the ruling coalition led by the DMK. But fissures over seat sharing have plagued the AIADMK, which has now come under attack from smaller allies.
The AIADMK has decided to contest 160 of the state’s 234 assembly seats, leaving the remaining 74 for its 10 allies: DMDK (41), CPI-M (12), CPI (10), MNMK (3), PT (2), SMK (2), RPI (1), FB (1), KYF (1) and AIMMK (1).
With the announcement of its candidates and constituencies, the AIADMK has dumped its long-time ally, the MDMK led by Vaiko.
According to an official of MDMK, the party would decide its future course of action March 19 at its district secretaries’ meeting.
He said the AIADMK did not offer decent number of seats. “The final offer was nine seats whereas we had scaled down our demand to 23 from 35,” he said.
Anger against Jayalalitha led DMDK cadres to burn her effigy and shout slogans against the AIADMK general secretary.
Most upset in the alliance are the DMDK, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), Communist Party of India (CPI), MMK and the Forward Bloc.
Their leaders say the AIADMK had no business announcing which 160 seats it would contest when discussions on seat sharing were on with the allies ahead of the April 13 elections.
The list announced by the AIADMK Wednesday includes many constituencies the allies wished to contest.
Earlier, leaders of the Left and some smaller parties met here amid indications that at least a few of them favoured a third front — to take on both the AIADMK and the ruling DMK.
Asked is this was true, a Communist leader said: “I am not able to say anything now.”
- AIADMK allies upset, exploring third front? (Lead) - Mar 17, 2011
- AIADMK discusses seat sharing differences with allies - Mar 18, 2011
- AIADMK to announce its candidates' list Monday - Mar 20, 2011
- AIADMK working out patch-up formula with allies (Lead) - Mar 19, 2011
- AIADMK working out patch-up formula with allies - Mar 18, 2011
- AIADMK allies upset over seat allotment - Mar 17, 2011
- AIADMK saves alliance, DMDK agrees to list - Mar 20, 2011
- DMDK, CPI-M tie up for Tamil Nadu local polls - Sep 27, 2011
- AIADMK, CPI-M sign seat sharing pact - Mar 19, 2011
- MDMK breaks away from AIADMK, to boycott elections - Mar 20, 2011
- AIADMK announces deal with DMDK, new list of candidates - Mar 21, 2011
- AIADMK in seat-sharing deal with Muslim party - Feb 20, 2011
- AIADMK signs eighth seat-sharing pacts - Mar 11, 2011
- Filing of nominations in Tamil Nadu begins Saturday - Mar 18, 2011
- AIADMK may reach deal with Left Sunday - Mar 05, 2011
Tags: assembly elections, assembly seats, campaign tour, communist party of india, communist party of india marxist, decent number, dmk, effigy, forward bloc, founder leader, general secretary, j jayalalithaa, kyf, madurai, mdmk, mmk, poll campaign, smk, time ally, vaiko