Contesting on DMK symbol caused severe distress: Durai Vaiko

Durai Vaiko, the Principal Secretary and Member of Parliament of the MDMK, said that the DMK exerted pressure to prevent his party from contesting under its own symbol in even a single constituency during the Assembly elections. This has caused severe distress at all levels of the party, he claimed. The decision regarding continuing in the alliance will be determined during the party’s General Council meeting scheduled for June 27, he added.

Speaking to The Hindu on Tuesday, he explained that at the time of the Assembly elections, they chose to remain in the alliance because they believed that only the DMK-led coalition possessed the strength to oppose communal forces. “We believed that communal forces should not enter Tamil Nadu and that politics based on social justice and Dravidian ideology must continue. At that juncture, when we assessed who had the capability to oppose those communal forces, it was the DMK. Furthermore, regarding Vijay, no one had predicted that he would win 108 seats and capture power. It was under those circumstances that we decided to continue in the DMK-led alliance,” Durai Vaiko said.

However, he pointed out that the events that transpired during the election period caused severe heartache to him and his party cadre. “They coerced us into contesting under the DMK symbol in all four seats allotted to us. If a party does not contest an election for five years, its registration will be revoked. Against this backdrop, we insisted on contesting under our own symbol and explained the situation to the DMK leadership. Consequently, the DMK president permitted us to contest under our own symbol in one seat (Sirkazhi). But after signing the agreement, severe pressure was exerted on us to contest under the DMK symbol in that single constituency of Sirkazhi as well. Left with no choice, we had to accept it. I view this as anti-democratic. It must be said that this is an unfortunate occurrence within an alliance that talks about social justice and equality,” Durai Vaiko remarked.

He further noted that once the alliance was finalised and election work had commenced, there was no opportunity left to make alternative decisions. He also emphasised that victory does not solely depend on having a prominent symbol. “In this election, the ‘Two Leaves’ (AIADMK) and ‘Rising Sun’ (DMK) symbols lost in many places. Conversely, the IUML’s ‘Ladder’ symbol emerged victorious in a few seats. During the Parliamentary elections, we were able to take the ‘Matchbox’ symbol to the public within just 14 days, and I won by a margin of nearly 3,25,000 votes. In this era of social media, it is easy to popularise symbols among the people,” he said.

He recalled that similar pressure was exerted during the Parliamentary elections as well. “At that time, they insisted that I contest under the DMK symbol. I refused. How can the Principal Secretary of a party resign from the MDMK, become a member of the DMK, and then contest? They pressured me till the very end. It was in that situation, while speaking at a meeting, that I declared I would rather die than contest on any symbol other than our own,” he recalled.

Attributing the DMK alliance’s defeat to the younger generation’s desire for change, Mr. Durai Vaiko pointed out that many of the newly-elected MLAs have no substantial financial backing, political lineage, or caste-based dominance.

With a vast crowd of youngsters rallying behind actor-politician Vijay, Durai Vaiko mentioned that he views Vijay’s political entry as an opportunity to take Dravidian principles and the ideologies of Periyar and Anna to the younger generation. “He speaks about Periyar and Anna. When he discusses how Tamil Nadu benefited because of them, it reaches the youth. That is a good thing, isn’t it?” Durai Vaiko remarked.

So, is the MDMK moving towards the TVK (Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam)? While he clarified that no decision regarding the alliance has been taken as of now, the issue will be debated in the upcoming General Council meeting. “Though we continue in the DMK alliance as of today, this will certainly be one of the key matters discussed in the General Council meeting on June 27,” he concluded.