The ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu has signed an electoral pact with the S Ramadoss-led PMK on Friday, allotting 31 assembly seats in the ensuing elections to the PMK. The PMK also gets a Rajya Sabha seat.
The PMK leader said he had gone to invite the DMK leader for his grandson's wedding. "It was a happy meeting with a happy end. We have been given 31 assembly seats and a Rajya Sabha seats," he told reporters outside Karunanidhi's Gopalapuram residence in Chennai.
PMK was part of the DMK-led Democratic Progressive Alliance in the 2006 assembly elections. PMK had then contested the same number of 31 seats and won 18 of them. The two parties have had a difficult relationship after the PMK parted ways with the DMK in July, after being a vociferous opposition within the alliance. PMK contested the 2009 Lok Sabha elections as an ally of the AIADMK, but drew a blank.
As the 2011 Assembly elections were nearing, Ramadoss send confusing signals to the DMK. Last month, when Karunanidhi said PMK was with him, Ramadoss criticised the DMK leader for unilaterally making the announcement. Karunanidhi hit back, saying his doors were closed on the PMK, and that anyway the Congress leadership did not want Ramadoss in the alliance. Ramadoss moved quickly in Delhi for a rapprochement. The final patch-up came after Ramadoss' son and former health minister in UPA-I Anbumani Ramadoss met Sonia Gandhi on Thursday.
After its formation in 1989, PMK contested four elections on its own, winning just one seat in the 1991 assembly and four in 1996. Since then, the party had alternated between the two Dravidian parties as allies. In the 1998 Lok Sabha polls, it tied up with AIADMK and won four seats. In the general elections the following year, PMK partnered with DMK and won five seats.
In the 2001 assembly polls, Ramadoss was back with Jayalalithaa and bagged 18 seats. Three years later, PMK went back to the DMK fold to fight the 2004 Lok Sabha elections and won six seats. The party got national exposure with Anbumani becoming the Union health minister. The alliance continued for the 2006 assembly elections in which the party won 18 seats. In the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, PMK jumped fence to ally with AIADMK, but could not win a seat. PMK, which enjoys the support of the OBC Vanniyars, enjoys about 10% of the vote share in the northern states of Tamil Nadu. The party is considered a decisive factor in about 40 assembly constituencies and eight Lok Sabha constituencies in the state.
The PMK leader said he had gone to invite the DMK leader for his grandson's wedding. "It was a happy meeting with a happy end. We have been given 31 assembly seats and a Rajya Sabha seats," he told reporters outside Karunanidhi's Gopalapuram residence in Chennai.
PMK was part of the DMK-led Democratic Progressive Alliance in the 2006 assembly elections. PMK had then contested the same number of 31 seats and won 18 of them. The two parties have had a difficult relationship after the PMK parted ways with the DMK in July, after being a vociferous opposition within the alliance. PMK contested the 2009 Lok Sabha elections as an ally of the AIADMK, but drew a blank.
As the 2011 Assembly elections were nearing, Ramadoss send confusing signals to the DMK. Last month, when Karunanidhi said PMK was with him, Ramadoss criticised the DMK leader for unilaterally making the announcement. Karunanidhi hit back, saying his doors were closed on the PMK, and that anyway the Congress leadership did not want Ramadoss in the alliance. Ramadoss moved quickly in Delhi for a rapprochement. The final patch-up came after Ramadoss' son and former health minister in UPA-I Anbumani Ramadoss met Sonia Gandhi on Thursday.
After its formation in 1989, PMK contested four elections on its own, winning just one seat in the 1991 assembly and four in 1996. Since then, the party had alternated between the two Dravidian parties as allies. In the 1998 Lok Sabha polls, it tied up with AIADMK and won four seats. In the general elections the following year, PMK partnered with DMK and won five seats.
In the 2001 assembly polls, Ramadoss was back with Jayalalithaa and bagged 18 seats. Three years later, PMK went back to the DMK fold to fight the 2004 Lok Sabha elections and won six seats. The party got national exposure with Anbumani becoming the Union health minister. The alliance continued for the 2006 assembly elections in which the party won 18 seats. In the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, PMK jumped fence to ally with AIADMK, but could not win a seat. PMK, which enjoys the support of the OBC Vanniyars, enjoys about 10% of the vote share in the northern states of Tamil Nadu. The party is considered a decisive factor in about 40 assembly constituencies and eight Lok Sabha constituencies in the state.
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