Only alliance can face strong ruling AIADMK: Karunanidhi

With his meeting with DMDK founder Vijayakanth sparking off speculations of a political realignment ahead of Assembly elections in 2016, DMK President M Karunanidhi today indicated that only an alliance of political parties could face the strong ruling AIADMK.

Speaking to reporters here who asked him if the meeting between the two of them yesterday could be taken as a precursor for an electoral tie-up, Karunanidhi said it was upto their individual perception but that his party had no announcements to make now.

"But, considering the situation in Tamil Nadu, an alliance is required and only the success of that alliance can save the state," he said.

Having aligned with the Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK for the 2011 Assembly polls in which DMK performed poorly with just 23 seats, DMDK later parted ways with the ruling party, following a face-off between Jayalalithaa and Vijayakanth on the floor of the Tamil Nadu Assembly.

Yesterday, Vijayakanth called on opposition party leaders including Karunanidhi, TNCC President E V K S Elangovan and BJP state president Tamilisai Sounderrajan to garner support for his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue of Karnataka constructing a check dam across river Cauvery at Mekedatu, which has raised concerns in the state.

Responding to this, Karunanidhi said that he welcomed the efforts by "younger brother" Vijayakanth to "unify Tamils" and assured all his support to his endeavours.

AIADMK, which trounced arch rival DMK in the 2011 elections, winning 151 constituencies, had since then been on a victory spree, winning the local body polls, all by-polls to the Assembly segments and netting 37 of 39 Lok Sabha seats in last year's Parliamentary elections.