SINGAM DMDK Vijayakanth to campaign in TN from this week

DMDK, which forged an alliance with BJP to contest the Lok Sabha Polls on Monday, announced the party Chief Vijaykanth’s campaign slated to begin this week.

The actor-politician will undertake a 14-day campaign under the first phase across various districts in Tamil Nadu, a party release said.

Mr. Vijaykant will begin his campaign on March 14 at Gummidipoondi and conclude on March 27 at South Chennai constituency, it said.

BJP managed to bring on board the principal opposition party DMDK, Vanniyar-backed outfit PMK and Vaiko-led MDMK, besides a few other outfits to establish a formidable alliance to contest the ruling AIADMK and DMK in the Lok Sabha polls.

BJP, allies stuck in seat sharing imbroglio

Efforts to iron out glitches and finalise identification of seats in Tamil Nadu made little progress on Tuesday with the BJP and its allies continuing to show rigidity in parting with certain constituencies, sources said.

While the BJP wants to field its state president Pon Radhakrishnan from Kanyakumari parliamentary seat, it wants certain other seats including South Chennai (senior leader L. Ganesan, a strong contender) and Coimbatore (several aspirants for this seat).

Likewise, MDMK wants to field its chief Vaiko from Virudhunagar and has decided to re-nominate its sitting Lok Sabha MP A. Ganesamoorthy from Erode.

Although Theni, Madurai and Thanjavur are among the MDMK’s ‘wishlist of seats’, the party has indicated that it was open for negotiation.

Among the constituencies from where the DMDK intends to field its candidates were Arani, Salem and Arakonam. The PMK, arguing that it had already named candidates for these seats last year itself, does not want to negotiate further on these constituencies. Krishanagiri is another constituency sought by PMK, BJP and the DMDK.

A senior BJP leader requesting anonymity said “it was a challenging situation” as the interests of all the parties had to be protected.

Meanwhile, senior BJP leader L. Ganesan speaking to reporters in Chennai said “issues could crop up in seat sharing. We are however determined to amicably settle this and declare the seat allocation on March 14.”

DMK manifesto harps on reservation, social justice

The Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam (DMK) will continue to urge the Centre to bring suitable amendments to the official Languages Act to make official languages of all States as official languages at the Centre, the manifesto released on Tuesday by party leader M. Karunanidhi stated.

Seeking to capitalise on the achievements of the DMK, when it was part of the Congress-led UPA at the Centre, the manifesto steered clear of any sops and freebies, but harped on reservation and social justice.

"The DMK will strive for inclusion of fishermen all over India in the list of Scheduled Tribes and to get all the concession available for STs," said the manifesto.

Mr. Karunanidhi said that the absence of a national party in DMK alliance would not cause any setback to it.

Asked who would be the Prime Ministerial candidate of the DMK alliance as both the BJP and the Congress have already projected Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi respectively as candidates for the post, he replied, “We would project other than these two.”

G.K. Vasan NOT TO contest Lok Sabha polls

While chances of Congress forging an alliance in Tamil Nadu was growing slim, senior party leader and Union Shipping Minister, G.K. Vasan, on Tuesday declared that he would not contest the polls.

"I will not contest. I will tour all 39 constituencies and campaign for candidates. I want to ensure unity and an increase in vote share for the Congress," he said.

Addressing a press conference, the former TNCC president said he had told about his decision to the party high command. Mr. Vasan said after a long time, the party in Tamil Nadu had got an opportunity to fight the elections alone. Congress workers across the State were elated at the prospect and are looking forward to work for candidates in all 39 seats.

On the reason for the party not able to stitch an alliance, Mr. Vasan, in an apparent reference to the DMDK and the DMK, said that parties in Tamil Nadu have opted for "opportunistic alliances."

"When the results come out and the vote shares are declared, those who did not align with us will regret the decision… Some of them were with us for long and enjoyed the power. But they have left at the last moment. This will certainly be taken to the voters," the union minister pointed out.

BJP yet to firm up poll act in Pathanamthitta

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) former State president P.S. Sreedharan Pillai, who was tipped to be the party’s candidate from the Pathanamthitta constituency in the Lok Sabha election, has expressed his unwillingness to enter the fray.

Though personal reasons are cited as the reason for Mr. Pillai’s reluctance, the actual reason is understood to be the changed political scenario that makes it difficult for the party to turn the contest into a serious one.

The party had hoped to cash in on the protest against the proposed Aranmula airport project led by Hindu Aikya Vedi leader Kummanam Rajasekharan and others. Many associated with the Aranmula temple had opposed the project besides environmental organisations.

The BJP had estimated that the party would be able to corner at least 15 per cent votes in the constituency, double the percentage of votes won by the party in 2009.

It was expected that Mr. Pillai would be able to win votes beyond the traditional support base of BJP and overcome difficulties caused by the Nair Service Society (NSS) – Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam divide.

The situation has but changed with the entry of Peelipose Thomas as the Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate. Mr. Thomas, who was in the forefront of the agitation against the airport project, had quit the Congress to contest as a candidate of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI-M]-led Left Democratic Front (LDF).

Advantage BJP

The BJP had the advantage that it could blame both the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) and the LDF for giving nod to the airport project.

The UDF government was promoting the project while the previous LDF government had given clearance for the project, sources said.

Though the LDF is also agitating against the project now, it has a credibility crisis as its government had cleared the project and aided land transactions and development. Mr. Thomas faces no credibility problems as he was one who had opposed the project from within the Congress and against its top leaders. So, Mr. Thomas’ candidature would have better appeal among opponents of the project than the BJP’s.

Moreover, the BJP faces dissidence and financial problems in launching an effective campaign in Pathanamthitta. The party has already announced three of its candidates and these would be the contests for which the party would spare no efforts. (As per the list announced from New Delhi on Saturday, former Union Minister of State O. Rajagopal is to contest from Thiruvananthapuram and State general secretaries K. Surendran and A.N. Radhakrishnan from Kasaragod and Ernakulam respectively.) It has not yet shortlisted another candidate for Pathanamthitta, despite Mr. Pillai’s firm stand.