Chennai: The DMK which is out of power at both the Centre and State is aiming at playing a crucial role at the Centre by scoring a spectacular victory in the forthcoming parliamentary elections on April 18, besides dislodging the state government by winning at least 13 of the 18 Assembly constituencies.
The party gained a cabinet berth in 1989 when it was part of the National Front government and later it was a constituent of the United Front government in 1996.
The DMK was part of the Vajpayee-led BJP regime and the UPA government led by Manmohan Singh. The party managed to win a majority of seats in 2009 by claiming that the UPA government had stopped the Sri Lankan military’s offensive against the LTTE after a six-hour hunger strike by the then Chief Minister M Karunanidhi.
But, after the election results were declared, the military offensive intensified on May 17 and 18 resulting in the Mullivaikkal massacre which led to DMK president M Karunanidhi losing his aura as the saviour of Tamils.
This along with the 2G scam led to DMK’s rout in the 2011 Assembly elections and the 2014 Parliament elections.
With the BJP government following the same Sri Lankan policy for the last five years and acquiring the image of an anti-Tamil party through its stand on Cauvery dispute besides issues like Hindi imposition and NEET, the DMK hopes to sail through on an anti-Modi wave in the state.
The party leader MK Stalin, who wants Congress by his side to topple the state government, has allotted nine Parliament seats to the national party besides the lone Puducherry constituency.
The DMK is in the race in 20 Lok Sabha seats and has chosen most of its stronghold areas to improve its winning chances. It has pitted candidates in 11 of the 14 seats in the northern districts including Chennai.
The party had fielded three candidates only in the western belt which has seven Parliament seats.
The DMK fared poorly in the western belt in the 2016 Assembly elections and it tilted the scales in favour of the AIADMK.
The party is contesting in four of the ten constituencies in the southern districts, leaving most of the seats to the Congress while picking two of the seats in the delta region.
Vaiko’s MDMK, the two Left parties and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi which formed the People’s Welfare Alliance in the 2016 Assembly elections and played the spoilsport for the DMK have teamed up with the DMK now.
Former DMK president M Karunanidhi’s daughter Kanimozhi and former Union Ministers TR Baalu, A Raja, SS Palanimanickam and S Jegatratchagan are the leading candidates of the party who are fighting the polls with the hope of joining the Union Cabinet again.
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