M.K Stalin Vs Alagiri A Fight for Political Game Vijaykanth's Wife Criticism - Red Pix 24x7 Amid the deep rift in the DMK first family and a perceived Narendra Modi wave across the country, there are indications that actor Vijayakanth's DMDK is likely to align with the BJP instead of the DMK or the Congress. DMDK had earlier indicated its ambition to be a player at the national level by fielding candidates for the Delhi assembly polls. State BJP chief Pon Radhakrishnan has over the past few days repeatedly expressed confidence that the DMDK would come on board. During a brief interaction with the media in Ulundurpet, about 200km from Chennai, on Wednesday, Vijayakanth's wife Premalatha described the ongoing succession feud within the DMK as a 'drama'. When asked whether her remark was an indication that the DMDK would not align with the DMK despite the party cracking down on senior leader M K Alagiri who had spoken out against a tie-up with her party, Premalatha said, "I leave it to your imagination." She said, "An issue which had to be discussed within the family is being discussed openly in the media by the party's tallest leader and his son. We are not ready to believe this family drama. Is it an attempt to gain sympathy or draw a party into the alliance?" Premalatha asked. She was in Ulundurpet to oversee preparations for the party's state convention on February 2. But later Premalatha issued a clarification through the DMDK-owned Captain TV saying she was not disclosing anything regarding alliances to the media. "Our leader will reveal our stand at the state conference," she said. This is the first remark from a leader of another political party on DMK's internal fight. The BJP has been trying to rope in DMDK, PMK and MDMK into its alliance. While Vaiko's MDMK has officially started talks with the BJP, the PMK has informally agreed to be a part of the alliance. "We hope the DMDK will announce its decision on aligning with us at its rally on February 2. We expect the decision would be conveyed to us a day before that," said senior BJP leader L Ganesan. If DMK's stern action against Alagiri was meant to placate the DMDK and its leader Vijayakanth, it doesn't seem to have had the desired effect. Alagiri's remark about the DMDK in an interview to a television channel drew Karunanidhi's ire resulting in a warning that he would not tolerate such indiscipline even from his son. Karunanidhi and Stalin were quick to clarify that they would be happy if Vijayakanth agreed for an alliance and would even withdraw the party's Rajya Sabha nominee in favour of the DMDK. "A few weeks back during the party's general body meeting, a majority of the functionaries expressed their interest in joining the BJP alliance," said a DMDK functionary. "Premalatha's criticism of the DMK shows that she is not happy with the party," he said. The leaders and well-wishers of the BJP pointed out that Vijayakanth has met BJP leaders but refused to meet any of the DMK leaders even informally. Sources in the DMK said they have been losing hope of a tie-up with the DMDK in recent days.

• published: 30 Jan 2014
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