Chennai: Despite finding itself in a piquant situation, the ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu may not back the ‘Tamil’ candidate C P Radhakrishnan, fielded by the BJP-led NDA for the post of Vice President.
Sources said a few days ago, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had reached out to DMK leader and Chief Minister M K Stalin seeking to build a consensus for the BJP’s Vice Presidential candidate, though at that time the name of Radhakrishnan was not finalised. Stalin, sources said, was non-committal, given that he is a key constituent of the opposition INDIA bloc and needs the Congress, Left and other parties to face next year’s crucial Assembly elections.
Radhakrishnan himself had called on Stalin a fortnight ago following the latter’s brief hospitalisation.
On Monday, the BJP and its allies AIADMK and Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar) sought to indirectly pressure the DMK and its friends to back a “Tamil candidate”. BJP State president Nainar Nagendran said all parties in Tamil Nadu must back Radhakrishnan, a view endorsed by AIADMK leader Edappadi K Palaniswami and TMC leader G K Vasan.
“The BJP by fielding Radhakrishnan has sought to push the DMK to a corner ahead of next year’s Assembly elections. If the DMK does not back his candidature, the AIADMK-BJP will campaign accusing the DMK of voting against a Tamil. The idea is to at least influence the voters of the western region or the Kongu belt which has a strong concentration of Kongu Vellala Gounder community voters – an OBC group to which Radhakrishnan belongs. It is a tightrope walk for the DMK,” said an observer.
However, a DMK leader claimed, “the voters are wise enough to understand the DMK’s political concerns as it is strongly opposed to the BJP, which has denied funds to Tamil Nadu.”
One way out would be for the INDIA bloc to field a candidate from Tamil Nadu or Andhra Pradesh to take on Radhakrishnan. “If a Telugu candidate is fielded, it would put the BJP’s allies in Andhra – TDP and Jana Sena in a dilemma,” said a political commentator.
