Reporter's Diary: Why get righteous over alliance formation?

CHENNAI: Social media is abuzz with former Minister and AIADMK leader SP Velumani’s recent statement questioning the ruling DMK about forming an alliance. “Can the DMK win elections without an alliance?” he had asked.

The Constitution of India allows every political party to form an alliance with like-minded parties and that would take them 1 step closer to an electoral win. At this juncture, demanding that an opposite party evade alliance is quite inappropriate, according to analysts.

While Velumani criticised the DMK for forming an alliance, his colleague and former CM Edappadi K Palaniswami made it clear that “AIADMK would form a mega alliance for 2024 LS polls”. Perhaps the former minister should remember the saying about people living in glass houses!

Though the AIADMK swept the 2014 LS polls without any alliance under the leadership of the late AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa, the scenario was different for the party in 2019. Since 18 MLAs were sacked by the then assembly speaker for showing allegiance to TTV Dhinakaran, the AIADMK was able to win at least 8 out of 22 in the 2019 assembly by-polls. When it entered a poll pact with PMK and DMDK, the new partners’ vote bank helped safeguard its government despite losing all MP seats.

Leaders should realise that there is no impediment to making an alliance as per the Representation of People Act (1951), and not illegal in the election system to make a coalition/alliance.