Chennai,Febrauary7,2012:Actor Vijayakanth is officially the Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Assembly. But his position is weak because he has to reckon with arch rival DMK on one hand and the giant egos of several minor players who could come under an umbrella of a Third Front. Virtually thrown out of the AIADMK-led alliance prior to the local body elections, Vijayakanth’s DMDK has had to quickly make moves towards formation of a third front. The developments in the Tamil Nadu Assembly a few days ago, with Chief Minister and AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa taunting and challenging the actor, have worsened the situation. At the moment, the Left parties are the only ones to throw in their lot with the DMDK. This process began with the local body polls when the CPM and CPI were also shown the door by Jayalalithaa. The Left parties have been left with no other option. As of now, the DMK remains part of the Congress-led UPA. Vaiko's MDMK, jettisoned from the AIADMK front prior to the 2011 Assembly elections, is looking for allies. Returning to the parent party, the DMK, is out of question. Although, the MDMK aligned with the DMK briefly from 1999 to 2001, DMK’s younger leaders like MK Stalin will not allow a tie-up with Vaiko again. For Vaiko, the formation of a strong Third Front would be an ideal situation. However, a major stumbling block would be the leadership issue. Vaiko sees himself as a chief ministerial aspirant and an alternative to Jayalalithaa and Karunanidhi. He is not yet reconciled to working under the leadership of Vijayakanth as leader of the third front. The Left parties would have to work hard to bring Vaiko into this front. The Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) is another party that could form part of the Third Front. Here too, PMK founder S Ramadoss could have problems in accepting Vijayakanth as their leader. In the past, Ramadoss had been extremely critical of actors, especially Rajnikanth and Vijayakanth. The criticism could be partly attributed to a weakening of the PMK at the grassroots level with some lower level cadres gravitating towards Vijayakanth’s DMDK. There are some in the DMDK and the Congress who believe that they can work together. Here again, the leadership issue could be a stumbling block. There is the additional problem of likely opposition from the Left parties towards inclusion of the Congress. Vijayakanth would then have to choose between the Congress and the Left parties, unless he is capable of bringing about a loose arrangement of mere allotment of seats and no sharing of common platform or a single front. By the same count, the DMDK and the DMK could also be a part of a Third Front. However, for that to happen, the DMK would have to quit the UPA. At the moment, the DMK is still part of the UPA. Again, the leadership issue could defy a quick-fix solution. With Vijayakanth setting himself up as a Chief Ministerial aspirant, it would be difficult for him to play second fiddle to another leader. There are also conflicting interests among prospective allies on the leadership issue. For the moment, it is advantage Jayalalithaa, thanks largely to a divided opposition.
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