Vijayakanth's decision to contest TN polls alone likely to be a gamechanger

Chennai: After weeks of bargaining and negotiating with three political groups, actor-turned-politician Vijayakanth announced that his party, DMDK, would contest Tamil Nadu polls alone.

Vijayakanth said, "My party will contest alone. I am going to say this again and again. There is no alliance. There is no confusion. I will fight alone."

As the third largest party in Tamil Nadu, Vijayakanth was being wooed by the DMK, the BJP and the MDMK-backed People Welfare Front. His decision to face the polls alone could very well play spoilsport for the DMK, which is looking for a comeback.

DMK Treasurer MK Stalin said, "No, this is not a setback. We wanted to have them in the alliance and it is true that party chief Karunanidhi invited them. But to join or not join is his right."

Vijayakanth formed the DMDK in 2005 as an alternative to the Dravidian heavyweights.

DMDK contested the 2006 Assembly polls and 2009 Lok Sabha polls alone. Its vote share rose from 8% in the 2006 Assembly polls to 10% in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls.

In 2011, the party bagged 29 seats in the Assembly polls after aligning with J Jayalalithaa's AIADMK but the two parted ways shortly after.

In 2014, DMDK allied with the NDA for the Lok Sabha polls, but failed to win any seats.

RK Radhakrishnan, Senior Deputy Editor of Frontline, said: "You can't do this back and forth. You either stay on as one single party - I am not going to vacate this space or you align with one party or another and keep your party going. Now 2016 you are going back 180 degrees and say no no no it's wrong to align with those people, I am going it alone. This doesn't work with the Tamil Nadu people."

Observers said that Vijayakanth's move could very well be a huge political gamble. But what perhaps is more intriguing is Vijayakanth's wife Premalatha's open invitation to like-minded parties.

Radhakrishnan added, "It also shows the state in which the DMDK is - it is a two person party - the husband and wife. That's going to be the undoing of the DMDK."

With Tamil Nadu going to polls on May 16, there is still enough time for new alliances to form, for old marriages to break and for a change of heart. But for now, Vijayakanth's decision to be king and not play kingmaker will force the opposition to go back to the drawing board and rework the electoral arithmetic.