After PMK, AIADMK in Talks With Tamil Maanila Congress

Tamil Maanila Congress President G K Vasan in talks with the AIADMK. A replay of the victorious friendship of 2001?

The TMC under GK Vasan is all set to join the ‘Mega, Victorious Alliance’ with the AIADMK.

(Photo: Shruti Mathur / The Quint)

After announcing the ‘Mega, Victorious Alliance’ comprising of BJP, AIADMK and PMK (Pattali Makkal Katchi), the AIADMK is now in talks with the Tamil Maanila Congress, headed by GK Vasan.

According to reports in local media and News Today, the State Minister of TMC Thangamani has gone into talks with CM Edappadi K Palaniswamy.

A History of Changing Alliances

The Tamil Maanila Congress was first formed as an anti-AIADMK party in 1996 by Vasan’s father GK Moopanar. In 2001, he changed his stand and decided to align with AIADMK, which came to power that year, appointing Jayalalithaa the chief minister.

After Moopanar’s death in August 2001, GK Vasan decided to merge TMC with the Indian National Congress.

The party split from the Congress in 2014 because Vasan was miffed by the replacement of BS Gnanadesikan with EVKS Elangovan as the state unit chief.

Frenemies Forever?

Politics works differently in Tamil Nadu. Despite the fact that the TMC was raised by the Congress party, it has never truly aligned with the INC for substantial electoral gain.

On the other hand, even though TMC began on an anti-AIADMK plank, it wanted to be an ally. The TMC-AIADMK coalition worked in 2001, but in 2016, Jayalalithaa decided to contest all seats in the state. The former chief minister called TMC for talks and asked the alliance partner for unconditional support. TMC was disappointed as it was expecting 8-15 seats. After that, TMC joined the People’s Welfare Front, comprising CPI and VaiKo’s MDMK among other anti-AIADMK parties.

This time though, without Amma at AIADMK’s helm, seat sharing is bound to be negotiable, and one that could revive the two parties’ love/hate relationship once again.

(With inputs from News Today.)