Chennai: In Tamil Nadu's star studded politics, reel life heroes becoming real life heroes is not something special or new. 'Captain' Vijayakanth knows this very well. After a decade in politics, he has realised that it follows no script.
Vijayakanth has allied with both J Jayalalithaa and BJP-led NDA in previous elections. But this time he shocked the major players by forging a last minute alliance with Vaiko's MDMK.
The BJP was hopeful of an alliance with Vijayakanth. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah sent Union Minister Prakash Javadekar to persuade him for an alliance. The BJP was hoping that it can make a dent in AIADMK and DMK's vote banks with the help of the 'Captain'. After leading them up the garden path, he took a sudden U-turn by going with Vaiko.
The DMK was also confident of getting him on board after he shut the door on BJP. His decision to go with the MDMK, projecting himself as the chief ministerial candidate of the People’s Welfare Front alliance, angered Karunanidhi so much that DMK virtually launched a campaign against him.
Vijayakanth’s new ally Vaiko came to his rescue making serious allegations against Karunanidhi. A stunned DMK immediately hit back at him by slapping a criminal defamation notice on him. After a few days Vaiko apologised to Karunanidhi for his allegations. However, he sarcastically advised Karunanidhi to focus on his other “businesses” instead of wasting time on trying to break the alliance.
Vijayakanth was actually enjoying the limelight with Vaiko's support. The real shock came when his party leaders revolted against him demanding that he should go with the DMK by ending the alliance with Vaiko. But Vijayakanth sacked some of his district secretaries for anti-party activities.
These leaders are now alleging that Vaiko has been paid a huge amount of money by “someone” to thwart the alliance with DMK and help the AIADMK cling to power. The rebel group says a split in opposition votes will finally benefit Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.
They hold Vijayakanth’s wife Premalatha responsible for this. One of the expelled leader said, “Captain is just a figurehead. She runs the party. If he does not stop listening to her, he will be doomed."
A visibly disturbed Vijayakanth is now trying to keep his flocks together. Clearly he never expected an open revolt by his cadres just a month ahead of voting.
According to a report in 'The Indian Express', a day after Vijayakanth sacked 10 leaders from his party, the rebels led by VC Chandirakumar, who was the party’s propaganda secretary, addressed journalists claiming the disciplinary action was not valid. He also said the rebels would wait for a day for Vijayakanth to change his mind and ally with the DMK. According to Chandirakumar many disciplinary committee members have themselves joined his camp seeking an alliance with the DMK.
They have served Vijayakanth an ultimatum giving him just one day to change his mind and go with the DMK. Many of his loyalists also feel that DMDK–MDMK alliance is going to be suicidal for the party.
In 2006, when his party contested Assembly elections first time, he got 10% votes. All candidates of his party except the actor himself lost. In the 2009, Lok Sabha polls, he fielded candidates in all 39 seats in the state and polled 10.3% votes.
In 2011, the AIADMK forged an alliance with him. He won 29 Assembly seats, walked out of the AIADMK alliance and became leader of the opposition in the assembly. In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, he joined the BJP-led NDA and contested in 14 Lok Sabha seats. He lost all the seats with DMDK polling only 5.1% votes.
Jayalalithaa, who has already declared all her candidates and announced campaign schedule, must be smiling after watching her rivals fight among themselves instead of challenging her.
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