The vanishing parties & symbols of Tamil Nadu politics

A growing number of Tamil Nadu political parties are losing their state party status and in turn their symbols. The upcoming 2021 assembly election is crucial for the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK). If the party with Vijakant at the helm does not get the requisite votes it will lose the state party status and join an unenviable list of parties like the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) and the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) that have lost state party status over the past few decades. If it fails to secure 8% vote share or 6% and two MLAs in the forthcoming assembly elections, Vijayakant’s party would lose the state party status and its poll symbol ‘murasu’ would be withdrawn.

Tamil Nadu, as of now, has only three state parties — the AIADMK, the DMK and the DMDK. It was with a stellar performance, by securing 7.88% vote share and 29 seats, in the 2011 general elections to the state assembly that the DMDK made its presence felt in Tamil Nadu. The party, which was launched in 2005, had 8.38% votes and won one seat in 2006 assembly polls. It did not win any seat, but got 10.08% votes in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, but slid to 5.19% votes in 2014 LS polls that came down to 2.19% in the last LS polls. The DMDK has not won a single seat in the polls after 2011.