Ahead of polls,Jaya starts climb back

Facing a series of electoral reverses,hit by desertions and weakened by a long stint out of power,the AIADMK has been like a ship in rough sea for quite a while.

Facing a series of electoral reverses,hit by desertions and weakened by a long stint out of power,the AIADMK has been like a ship in rough sea for quite a while. Now,as Tamil Nadu gradually moves towards Assembly elections scheduled for May next year,the states main opposition party is slowly steadying the vessel.

The AIADMKs troubles began in 2004,when the party and its allies lost all seats in the general election that saw the formation of the UPA government at the Centre. Two years later,Jayalalithaas party lost the Assembly polls too. It lost several middle-level leaders to the DMK,and more were said to follow.

It was in this backdrop that the party organised a public meeting in Coimbatore in July,just weeks after the DMK governments World Classical Tamil Conference which the Opposition boycotted.

The venue was symbolic. Politically,the western belt of Tamil Nadu,the Kongu region,is one of the last remaining strongholds of the AIADMK. However,aided by power,the DMK has been moving aggressively and has managed to attract senior AIADMK leaders from this region.

But to everyones surprise,the AIADMK July meet was a huge hit,attracting thousands of cadres,even more than the numbers drawn by Jayalalithaas election meetings last year. Jayalalithaa sensed an opportunity. Soon there was another meet at Tiruchy,a DMK stronghold,which was termed as another success. And the latest one in the series will be in mid-October,to be organised in Madurai,the bastion of Union minister and DMK strongman M K Alagiri.

With several months to go for Assembly elections and persisting uncertainties in the alliance equation,it cannot be predicted if the revved-up enthusiasm of cadres can see the party back to power. Sources say the AIADMK is keen to forge an alliance with the Congress,despite being rejected prior to the last elections.

While an alliance between these two parties has proven to be mutually beneficial at the hustings,beyond the math and the inevitable wrangling,the DMK-Congress relationship has largely been stable.

Story continues below this ad

The only possibility is if Congress managers decide to explore prospects for the partys expansion by aligning with a weakened AIADMK,in the hope of garnering more seats and therefore a larger political space. Or,Jaya could come up with an irresistible offer.

Vijayakanth and his party,the DMDK,is another potential ally for Jayalalithaa. Informal discussions are on in the background,sources indicate,though it is still too early to speculate.

Meanwhile,adding piquancy to the AIADMKs latest public outing,Jaya TV claims to have received as many as seven death threats to its leader,which the party is now using to drum up support ahead of the Madurai meet. The Revolutionary Leader has said she would go ahead with the scheduled programme; her deputies have demanded a CBI probe which the government has agreed to; and her cadres have threatened to form suicide squads to protect her if needed. It is beginning to sound like election time in Tamil Nadu.