DMDK loses EC recognition after dismal TN polls

Tamil Nadu’s Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) has been stripped of its recognition as a ‘state party’ by the Election Commission, news agency ANI has reported.
The move comes just days after the party’s humiliating performance in the Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, in which the DMDK failed to win a single seat and its leader and Chief Minister hopeful Vijaykant lost his deposit.
The main impact of the loss of the ‘state party’ status for the DMDK means it will no longer have exclusive access to the drum symbol (murasu in Tamil and nagara in Hindi).
The Election Commission of India accords the recognition of ‘state party’ to any registered outfit that wins eight percent of the total votes cast in a general election. The status may also be given to a party if it wins three percent of the seats in the Assembly.
The DMDK was founded in 2005, and secured 8.38 percent of the vote in the its very first Assembly election in 2006. It also contested the 2009 Lok Sabha elections on its own in Tamil Nadu and secured 10.08 percent of the vote.
The DMDK was recognised as a ‘state party’ after it won 29 seats with 7.88 percent of the votes as a part of the AIADMK-led front. The recognition as a ‘state party’ meant the drum symbol was reseved for the DMDK in Tamil Nadu.
The DMDK contested as a ‘state party’ in the 2014 Lok Sabha election and the recent Assembly election. Now, any candidate can request the Election Commission to allot him/her the drum symbol.
DMDK chieftain Vijaykant had launched his party as an alternative to the two Dravidian majors – AIADMK and DMK. He had ended his policy of isolation, and decided to draw electoral alliances with the AIADMK in 2011 and the BJP-led front in 2014.
In the recent Assembly election in Tamil Nadu, Vijaykant had evaded overtures from the DMK to join the Peoples Welfare Front (PWF) as its Chief Ministerial candidate. The PWF is a collection of small parties with a negligible electoral clout in Tamil Nadu that had banded together as a third front – CPM, CPI, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and Vaiko’s Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK).
The DMDK contested in 104 seats, won nothing and saw its vote share drop to a paltry 2.4 percent and failed to make a mark. Its leader Vijaykant lost his deposit in the Ulundurpettai constituency, by a margin of 47,500 votes.
The party will now to have to revaluate its positioning in Tamil Nadu’s politics if it wants to make a comeback.
(With input from ANI)