Chennai: Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhakam deputy general secretary TTV Dhinakaran, whose party is facing its maiden Parliament polls has emerged as the deciding factor of the outcome in the Lok Sabha elections and the by-polls to the 18 constituencies.
An AIADMK rout in the elections is certain to keep him in the reckoning to claim the legacy of former AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa while a better performance than the ruling AIADMK could pave the way for the merger of both parties under his leadership.
Though, the AMMK is a party without any symbol at the moment, he is drawing huge crowds everywhere in the state, a major cause of worry for the AIADMK since the response to the campaign of AIADMK coordinator O Panneerselvam and joint coordinator Edappadi K Palaniswami is lukewarm.
If the AIADMK faced a drubbing, the number of votes split by Dhinakaran’s AMMK will come into sharp attention leading to demands for bringing him back to the party. Panneerselvam and Palaniswami could retain the reins of the party only if the votes polled by AMMK is dismal. However, if the AIADMK ended up trailing behind Dhinkaran’s candidates in most of the seats, he could stage a coup and force a merger under his leadership.
In the by-elections to the 18 Assembly constituencies, the number of seats won by the AMMK would force the ruling party to negotiate with him for survival. When the AIADMK fails to win sufficient number of Assembly seats and Dhinakaran too is firm in rejecting the offer of talks, he could help the DMK to bring down the state government.
During his campaign, Dhinakaran is promising to end the Palaniswami government’s rule as well as that of the BJP at the Centre.
In the southern and eastern region of Tamil Nadu, Dhinakaran has the capability to win a few Assembly seats while he could split the ruling party votes and facilitate DMK victories in the northern region.
The AMMK has fielded candidates in 38 seats and allotted one seat to the SDPI, a Muslim outfit. The allies of the AIADMK are contesting in 19 seats and Dhinakaran is already focusing his energy and time on such seats.
He has more chances of drawing the traditional AIADMK votes in constituencies where the ‘Two Leaves’ symbol is absent. His party is also aiming at catching minority votes since the AIADMK had aligned with the BJP with the promise of continuing the Narendra Modi government.
Dhinakaran’s vote share and the strength of his party in each Assembly segment will be known when the election results are declared and this could be helpful for him in negotiating electoral ties with other parties in future.
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