In Tamil Nadu, PMK makes early push for grand alliance

CHENNAI: Former health minister Anbumani Ramadoss is pitching his Pattali Makkal Katchi, or PMK, as the leader of what he hopes will be a grand alliance to challenge the hegemony of the two main Dravidian parties as manoeuvring begins for state elections due next year in Tamil Nadu. Although his party has traditionally polled around 5% of the vote, Ramadoss, a doctor, is projecting himself as the “professional” in a state where film industry connections dominate politics.

“We are calling all non-DMK and non-AIADMK parties to align with us as we lead an alternative front in the state. This is not a third front; it will merely be an alternative to the two Dravidian parties that have been ruling the state for over 50 years now,’’ Ramadoss, 46, who is the leader of PMK’s youth wing, told ET in an exclusive interaction. “In 2016, the ideal alliance will be all parties excluding the DMK and AIADMK.”

Ramadoss’ bid to claim the mantle of leadership of an alliance that does not even exist coincides with the perceived boost to the ruling AIADMK after the acquittal of its leader J Jayalalithaa by the Karnataka High Court in a corruption case where she was convicted last year by the trial court.