DMDK to go it alone in Tamil Nadu

DMDK chief Captain Vijayakant on Thursday declared that he will contest the Tamil Nadu assembly elections on his own strength because his supporters wanted to see him as the "king".

The Captain, as he is popularly known, made the announcement at a public meeting here.

"I will contest alone. In my previous meeting at Kancheepuram I asked the people if they wanted to see me as the king or the kingmaker. You all have wanted me to be the king. So the DMDK will go it alone in the polls," the actor-turned-politician said to loud cheers from his supporters.

After thanking political leaders who wanted to tie up with him, the DMDK chief said people wanted to see him as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu.

Before the announcement, his wife Premalata denounced both the DMK and the ruling AIADMK, accusing them of corruption.

Tamil Nadu, she said, deserved a party which would provide it a corruption free administration.

Both the Dravidian parties "needed to be thrown out", she thundered.

"If the DMK was involved in 2G and Spectrum scams, Jayalalithaa is responsible for everything that is going wrong in Tamil Nadu," she added.

"Please vote her out from power," she said.

AIADMK spokesperson C.R. Sarswathi made light of the DMDK's claims, saying Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa remained a mass leader and would win the May assembly elections.

"Personalised attacks on Jayalalitaa will not go down well with people," she said.

The DMK had been desperately trying to woo the DMDK in a bid to put up an effective challenge to the AIADMK.

But with Thursday's announcement, Tamil Nadu may see multi-party contests involving the AIADMK, a DMK-led front, the MDMK, the Peoples Welfare Front of Vaiko and the Left as well as the BJP-led alliance.