Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) leader Vijayakant on Sunday made it clear that his cadre wanted to go it alone in the Lok Sabha polls.
When he asked the huge gathering a couple of times, “Do you want an alliance or not”, their answer was a resounding “no”. Acknowledging their response, Mr. Vijaykant, however, said his cadre would abide by any decision of the party on the issue.
He went on to recall his decision to join the AIADMK alliance in the 2011 Assembly election after consulting the partymen at a conference in Salem. “We were humiliated and treated badly for taking the decision,” he said.
Speaking at the party’s State conference at Ulundurpet near here, Mr. Vijayakant dedicated a considerable part of his speech to attack the ruling AIADMK and Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. He said his objective was to capture power in Tamil Nadu in the 2016 Assembly elections. The police had become totally subservient to the ruling party and were serving its whims, he added.
The DMDK passed several resolutions at the conference. One of them declared its slogan: “We will unite and fight corruption”.
It said parties in power at the Centre and States ought to mend their ways to cleanse the political system of their corruption or face the threat of getting unseated.
The conference raised issues pertaining to Mullaperiyar, the Palar, the Cauvery and the arrest of Tamil Nadu fishermen and related problems. The ruling dispensation, it said, was not taking any action.
Several thousands of crores were allocated for the cyclone Thane-hit Villupuram and Cuddalore districts, but aid had not reached the affected people, a resolution said.
Farmers in delta districts of Thanjavur, Nagapattinam, and Tiruvarur had not got compensation for their crops that withered owing to want of water.
Over one lakh head of cattle perished in the outbreak of the foot-and-mouth disease but farmers were not given suitable compensation. It has urged the government to take immediate action to mitigate their sufferings.
Focussing on local issues, the conference said that ever since the DMDK announced the conference, the Villupuram district was brought under prohibitory orders, thus putting hurdles to the arrangements.
The local authorities removed flexi-boards, banners and arches put up in connection with the conference.
