Coimbatore:
In a major setback to AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa, key ally and DMDK chief Vijayakanth today skipped a joint rally in Coimbatore.
Vijayakanth instead was represented by his party's presidium chairman Panruti Ramachandran. DMDK sources say the actor-turned-politician didn't want to upset his campaign plans.
His party also said that the actor-turned politician was, in fact, campaigning for AIADMK candidates, but at Nagapattinam.
The development comes after weeks of simmering friction in Jayalalithaa's alliance.
The rally, attended by leaders like CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat and TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu, comes just a day after the Opposition, in a show of strength, held a joint rally of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and DMK supremo and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi in Chennai.
Last month, the AIADMK-DMDK alliance was almost on the brink of a break up. The DMDK had alleged that the AIADMK had taken away most of their winnable seats. Wary of upsetting the poll arithmetic, Jayalalithaa made a climbdown and swapped around thirty seats to save the alliance. The DMDK will contest on 41 out of the 234 in the assembly seats. Tamil Nadu is slated to go to polls on April 13.
Vijayakanth instead was represented by his party's presidium chairman Panruti Ramachandran. DMDK sources say the actor-turned-politician didn't want to upset his campaign plans.
His party also said that the actor-turned politician was, in fact, campaigning for AIADMK candidates, but at Nagapattinam.
The development comes after weeks of simmering friction in Jayalalithaa's alliance.
The rally, attended by leaders like CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat and TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu, comes just a day after the Opposition, in a show of strength, held a joint rally of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and DMK supremo and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi in Chennai.
Last month, the AIADMK-DMDK alliance was almost on the brink of a break up. The DMDK had alleged that the AIADMK had taken away most of their winnable seats. Wary of upsetting the poll arithmetic, Jayalalithaa made a climbdown and swapped around thirty seats to save the alliance. The DMDK will contest on 41 out of the 234 in the assembly seats. Tamil Nadu is slated to go to polls on April 13.
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