By V.M. Khaleelur Rahman for TwoCircles.net
Chennai: The AIADMK alliance had a big joint campaign rally on Wednesday, 6th April 2011, in Coimbatore in which the AIADMK chief Ms. J. Jayalalithaa; CPI (M) leader Mr. Prakash Karat; CPI national secretary Mr. A.B. Bardhan; Prof. Jawahirullah, chief of the Manitha Neya Makkal Katchi and even the Telugu Desam chief Mr. N. Chandrababu attended, appealed to the people to vote for the AIADMK alliance candidates and declared that Ms. J. Jayalalithaa would become the next chief minister of Tamil Nadu.
Prof. Jawahirullah strongly contended that a government headed by Ms. Jayalalithaa is necessary for the benefit of the minorities particularly Muslims in Tamil Nadu. He strongly criticized the DMK government and wanted people to vote for the AIADMK alliance candidates for a bright future for the Tamil Nadu people.
However the popular film star and the DMDK leader Mr. “Captain” Vijayakanth was conspicuous by his absence in the much publicized joint campaign meeting. It disappointed the people connected with the AIADMK alliance parties and Captain fans and gave different meanings to different people. Although the DMDK leader Mr. Panruti S. Ramachandran who attended the rally told the crowd that “Captain is busy campaigning for AIADMK candidates in Nagapattinam and Karaikal, not to worry and wait till May to see the two leaders on the same dais as Jayalalithaa will become the chief minister and Captain as the leader of the second largest party will become the opposition leader, people thought that there is something wrong in the alliance which has not come to light.
Meanwhile the statement of the union minister and DMK M.P. Mr. M.K. Alagiri to NDTV in Madurai on Wednesday that “I love Tamil Nadu and want to serve the people of the state like my father” was perceived in political circles and media as significant. While a section of the media branded it as an expected war with his younger brother the present deputy chief minister Mr. M.K. Stalin, some other political observers consider the statement as a natural phenomenon as he is not at home in New Delhi and eyes for a comfortable position in the region. They feel that there will not be any problem on this issue as the two brothers are co-operative with each other.
However some people believe that both the DMK and AIADMK alliances are divided houses and they should introspect about it seriously in order to protect the interest of the people in Tamil Nadu.