PUNCHING ABOVE THEIR WEIGHT?

The Big Two Dravidian parties are still managing overambitious small allies, pushing for bigger slices of the seats pie

- Amarnath K. Menon

For Tamil Nadu’s Big Two Dravidian parties—the AIADMK (All India Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) and DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam)—managing their poll allies’ demand for seats is turning out to be a tough ask. The difficulty in imposing their will on much smaller allies also gives away the apprehensions of these parties about the 2021 election.

The DMK and AIADMK have together polled over 70 per cent of the votes in every election since 1996, but they have had to rely on minor players of late to give them the decisive edge in several constituencies. The 2016 poll was an exception when an ailing Jayalalithaa decided to go it alone to prove her strength—the AIADMK bagged 135 of the total 234 seats even though its vote share was a slender 1 percentage point more than that of the DMK alliance. Both parties have a 25 per cent support base each and a well-organized network in most constituencies, making it difficult for other parties, including the Congress and the BJP, to make inroads. The two parties also believe that they need to contest from at least 170 seats this time (leaving only 50-odd to partners) to improve their chances of forming the next Tamil Nadu government on their own. Neither group wants to head a coalition or allow piggy-backing allies to be in a position to dictate terms in the event of a close result. The smaller parties have played hard to get, forcing the AIADMK and the DMK to send out teams for several rounds of negotiations. Other than their pocket boroughs, there are 140 constituencies where the votes of these smaller parties could make a difference.