Ramadoss grapples a with lack of choices as Anbumani joins AIADMK alliance

The swift addition of the PMK, led by Anbumani Ramadoss, to the AIADMK alliance has left his father S. Ramadoss, (estranged now) founder of the party, in a bit of a pickle.

Sources close to Dr. Anbumani have always maintained that he will never be a part of any alliance that also includes his father’s faction, which has left Dr. Ramadoss with difficult propositions: one, join the DMK, which has the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), an ‘ideological enemy’, and two, fight the election with the political start-up of actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK). The first strategy would pose a serious issue for the VCK, a consistent partner of the DMK, as a party that has identified the BJP and PMK as part of the same “Sanathana forces” and openly proclaimed that the party would never be in the same alliance as the PMK.

VCK general secretary and Villupuram M.P. D. Ravikumar said that commenting on Dr. Ramadoss’s possible inclusion in the DMK alliance would be premature. “All of this is premature. There was a speculation that O. Panneerselvam and T.T.V. Dhinakaran are joining the DMK alliance too. So, only when such a situation fructifies, we will take a call. We hope that the DMK will seek our opinion. We will make our position clear,” he said.

Recently, VCK founder Thol. Thirumavalavan reiterated his position in Thirupparakundram, in which he said he had closed all doors on “BJP, PMK, AIADMK (for being with the BJP), and TVK (for being founded at the behest of the BJP)”, stating that he had done so because he was a student of “Dr. Ambedkar”.

The feeling within the VCK is that such a development would be “disastrous” for the alliance as it would disrupt the smooth transfer of votes between the VCK and the DMK in the northern districts.

“If his fight is to reclaim his party, then the only way to do it is by joining Vijay and get a better vote share than Dr. Anbumani. Dr. Ramadoss joining the DMK would inevitably strengthen Dr. Anbumani. Dr. Ramadoss tried to mobilise entire communities against Adi Dravidars in northern districts. The animosity runs deep in certain districts. There would be issues in vote transfer and electioneering if he joins the DMK alliance. It would lead to a lose-lose situation. Thalaivar’s recent speech shows that such a development wouldn’t be acceptable,” a VCK source said.

However, Dr. Ramadoss, who has started accepting applications from ticket aspirants, remained cryptic in his responses. When a reporter asked if the phrase Dr. Ramadoss had used earlier “the fruit would fall into the pot of milk”, a phrase that former DMK president M. Karunanidhi had used to suggest that the DMDK would likely join the DMK alliance in 2016, could mean that he is close to joining the DMK alliance, Dr. Ramadoss deflected and responded vaguely.

He also refused to commend or criticise Chief Minister Stalin’s performance over the last five years, though he had welcomed the announcement of the Tamil Nadu Assured Pension Scheme, which was criticised by his son, Dr. Anbumani, possibly to keep his options open. A source close to Dr. Ramadoss felt that joining the DMK alliance would not turn out to be so bad and “the situation on the ground had changed”.