Chennai (Tamil Nadu): After serving time in Bengaluru prison in the disproportionate assets, Sasikala remains a contender in the AIADMK and in the state’s political scape. VK Sasikala’s homecoming trip took nearly a day to cover less than 350 km with 56 reception points. It was grand indeed. This has set the stage for her to stake claims for the AIADMK.
She also has said that she would be active in politics and wouldn’t bow down to any ‘oppression’. Word around is that she is ready to sail with AIADMK. The tone and tenor of voices in the Sasikala camp and the AIADMK repeatedly hover around ‘united’ and ‘together’, and to defeat its archrival DMK.
The DMK-alliance made a clean sweep in 2019 Lok Sabha. In 23 out of 39 seats, the difference was over 2 lakh votes. Removing Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam floated by Sasikala’s nephew and RK Nagar MLA TTV Dhinakaran which finished at the third spot from the contest will not make much of a difference in these seats.
What needs to be looked at is the third position secured by AMMK in as much as 21 seats, and securing over 8.46 per cent. AIADMK’s vote share in the 2019 LS polls was 18.48 per cent.
AMMK got 10.39 per cent in the byelection to 22 State Assembly Constituencies which were held along with the LS Polls. Of these 22 seats, the AIADMK managed to win 9 constituencies which were crucial for its continuance. AMMK spoiled victory chances in four places each of both the AIADMK and DMK as its candidates polled more votes than the victory margin.
For instance, Chidambaram's LS seat was won by VCK leader Thol Thirumavan with a slender margin of 3,219 votes. In Ramanathapuram, the AMMK candidate polled more than 1.41 lakh votes while the victory margin of the DMK was about 1.3 lakh votes.
If one were to go by these statistics, AIADMK’s chances might improve at the election. The accretion may not fructify into a sheer winning combination though.
Speaking to ETV Bharat, Dr R Thirunavukkarasu, teacher of sociology at the University of Hyderabad, said, “We can speculate based on the past election results. It is highly doubtful that Sasikala, TTV Dhinakaran, chief minister and his deputy - K Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam would work in tandem. Hypothetically, a united AIADMK will pose a mighty challenge to the DMK in the South and West regions. A consensus to have a united AIADMK would become a pointer that people have endorsed the DMK”.
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