UPA could lose key ally: PMK set to join AIADMK
UPA could lose key ally: PMK set to join AIADMK
New Delhi: The ruling United Progressive Alliance could lose a key ally in Tamil Nadu. The Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) is likely to join a rival formation led by J. Jayalalithaa’s All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), said a person close to the development.
The PMK’s general council, the highest decision-making body of the party, is meeting in Chennai on Thursday morning to take a final decision on the matter, this person said on condition of anonymity.
The MDMK has already left DPA and joined hands with Jayalalithaa.
The PMK has strong support among the Vanniyar community, which is categorized as an Other Backward Class and comprise about 12% of the population in Tamil Nadu.
In 2004, PMK won in all the six parliamentary seats it contested and hopes to repeat the feat in the general election scheduled in April-May.
Its talks of seat-sharing with the DMK has broken down because it demanded seven contiguous seats that is said to have upset DMK supremo K. Karunanidhi because he fears this could later lead to a demand for a separate state for Vanniyars, said people familiar with the matter who declined to be named.
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