MDMK not to contest TN, Puducherry polls

“Deeply hurt by the treatment” meted out to it during seat-sharing talks, the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhgam (MDMK) led by Vaiko announced

its decision to quit the AIADMK alliance and boycott the Assembly elections to Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

The AIADMK came forward to offer a maximum of 12 seats to the MDMK, but Mr Vaiko made it clear that the party would not settle for anything less than “21 seats of our choice”.

“It has been proved wrong that time would have mellowed down AIADMK general secretary Jayalalithaa and brought in a change in her attitude. She still remains arrogant and is taking decisions unilaterally. It is totally unacceptable to continue in the alliance and face the voters,” a resolution adopted in the meeting of district secretaries and various committees said.

The meeting began on Saturday morning and continued till the wee hours of Sunday.

The party also explained why it was not interested in forming a third front or contesting alone in the elections.

“Such efforts will pave way for a baseless allegation that the MDMK is responsible for the victory of a particular front in the elections,” the resolution added.

“There is no need for the party to get Assembly seats at the expense of self-respect,” the resolution stressed.

The MDMK had begun the parleys with the AIADMK by demanding 35 seats, but had climbed down to 30 seats in the second round of talks. In the fourth round of talks on March 8, the AIADMK had offered six seats and the figure went up to seven on March 12 and eight on March 13.

“On March 14, the AIADMK seat-sharing team members O. Panneerselvam and K.A.Sengottaiyan met Mr Vaiko at his residence and informed him that AIADMK leadership could not increase the figure beyond eight seats. We could sense that it was a deliberate attempt on the part of the AIADMK to hurt the MDMK and elbow it out from the alliance,” the resolution further alleged.

The AIADMK increased the offer of seats to nine on March 15. Once again on March 16, the seat-sharing committee members invited the MDMK to sign the agreement for nine seats. Mr. Vaiko insisted on 23 seats, or alternatively, “21 seats of our choice.”

The party said even on Saturday Mr O. Panneerselvam and Mr K.A. Sengottaiyan met MDMK general secretary Vaiko and made an offer of 12 seats. But the MDMK rejected the offer.