The Hindu Business Line : Coalition govt: A new experience for TN

A DMK-led alliance is all set to form the Government in the State after it bagged 163 seats in the 234-member Assembly. The AIADMK front has ended with 69 seats.

The DMK won 96 seats and its allies, the Congress 34, PMK 18, CPI(M) 9 and CPI 6.

The AIADMK bagged 61 and its allies, the MDMK 6 and the VCK 2. Significant, the AIADMK won seven of the 14 seats in Chennai, considered a stronghold of the DMK.

Prominent among those who won are the outgoing Chief Minister and AIADMK General Secretary, Ms J. Jayalalithaa, the DMK President, Mr M. Karunanidhi, senior DMK leaders such as Mr K. Anbazhagan, Mr Arcot Veerasamy, Mr Durai Murugan and Mr M.K. Stalin. Several of the ministers in the AIADMK Government have lost.

Among the others, the newly formed DMDK of actor Vijayakanth has bagged one seat.

Senior Congress leaders are expected to visit Chennai and discuss with the DMK President, Mr Karunanidhi, the issue of government formation. The Congress in the State would like to have a share in the government and the decision rests on the party high command.

The DMK that beat the Congress at the polls in 1967 and formed the government for the first time, now finds itself depending on the Congress to gain the numerical advantage to form a new government.

Tamil Nadu voters, for the first time since 1967, have turned in a poll decision that necessitates a coalition government - no small opportunity to the Congress that has for nearly four decades allied itself with the DMK or the AIADMK.

Mr Karunanidhi, when he met journalists this morning immediately after the trend of the election results became apparent, was not able to commit himself on forming the new Government, which he would head for a fifth time.

He said that he would not be able to comment without first consulting the other party leaders in the DMK-led Democratic Progressive Alliance. Definitely a new experience for a veteran with six decades in public life, 10-time member of the Tamil Nadu Assembly, and 14 years as a Chief Minister.

Limited victory

He acknowledged the limited victory that the Tamil Nadu voters have offered. With his flair for allegory, he said, the vessel of the alliance has managed to move only so far with the sails and oar provided by the voters and the general public.

He also struck a moderate note as he assured that the Government would go by the book. It would not be vindictive towards its opponents. He hoped that this would be an opportunity to set aside the enmity between opposing political parties.

Mr Karunanidhi also emphasised the sops that he had announced in the manifesto. The slum clearance tenements that were more than 30-years-old and dilapidated would be renewed on a priority basis, the Rs 10,000 marriage grant for the poor would be hiked to Rs 15,000.