Fear of DMK desertion drives PMK to AIADMK

N Sathiya Moorthy in Madras

The vanniar community-dominated Pattali Makkal Katchi, which is traditionally close to the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, is building bridges with the Opposition AIADMK under Jayalalitha.

The PMK fears that, like in 1996, the DMK will ditch it again in the next elections, unless Chief Minister M Karunanidhi breaks his alliance with the Tamil Maanila Congress.

''We do not want to be fooled all over again, and want to protect our own electoral interests,'' says a party strategist considered close to PMK founder S Ramadoss. ''Though we would still like to strike a deal with the DMK whenever elections are held, we are aware of the latter's compulsions on this count. This is why we don't mind giving up our congenital hatred for the AIADMK,'' he says.

So desperate was the party in 1996 that it even held negotiations with the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. But again, personal egos and political issues derailed the talks and it had to go it alone in the elections. Yet it was not the first time the PMK was facing such a situation. Though its ties with the DMK date back to 1989, when it did not contest the election, the party had to contest the poll alone in 1991.

''This is possibly our last chance to revive the party electorally,'' concede PMK leaders. ''While we will be more comfortable in the DMK's company, we cannot afford to forego all chances of winning a few seats.'' In this context, even an alliance with the TMC cannot be ruled out.

The PMK polled only four per cent of the votes in 1996, winning four seats in the much-polarised elections, as against nearly six per cent in 1981, when it sent a lone legislator. ''We are concerned about the falling poll percentage, and the trend can be reversed only if we align with whoever is willing to have us,'' says the source.

The party has drawn up a clever survival strategy which ensures that it maintains friendly ties with both DMK and AIADMK without ruffling them. For instance, the PMK has participated in several agitations which were backed by the AIADMK. At the same time, the party has taken up programmes that would promote pan-Tamil issues close to Karunanidhi's heart.

However, party leaders deny letting the DMK use the PMK to take potshots at the TMC whose ties with Karunanidhi have run into rough weather. ''If we are such slaves of the DMK, as the TMC leaders allege, we won't be able to chalk out a strategy independent of the DMK,'' says the leader.

The PMK is also aware of the MDMK's reservations against its possible alliance with the AIADMK. The MDMK feels the PMK might prove to be a Trojan horse planted by the DMK on the MDMK-AIADMK alliance. ''Unlike the MDMK, we are not desperate for an alliance with the AIADMK. We can choose between the DMK, the AIADMK and the TMC and will decide on the alliance question only on the poll-eve, based on the offer we get.''

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