MUMBAI: The DMK appears to be testing the waters for a broader national coalition of regional parties beyond the BJP-Congress binary, with parliamentary party leader Kanimozhi stepping up consultations with key INDIA bloc allies in the wake of the defeat of the Constitution Amendment Bill on delimitation and the saffron party’s reported bid to press it again.
Kanimozhi’s outreach gathered pace with a meeting with Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray at his Matoshree residence in Mumbai’s Bandra, followed by separate discussions in Delhi with Nationalist Congress Party (SP) leader Sharad Pawar and his daughter and Lok Sabha member Supriya Sule.
Uddhav personally welcomed Kanimozhi and honoured her with a ceremonial golden shawl. The discussions reportedly covered the defeat of the delimitation Bill, the Congress’ approach towards the BJP and the future of the INDIA bloc. More significantly, the leaders are understood to have discussed the space for regional and smaller parties within the Opposition camp and the possibility of greater coordination among them.
For the DMK, the immediate issue may be delimitation. But the larger question now appears to be whether regional parties can find enough common ground to create political space beyond the BJP-Congress contest.
The impact of delimitation on southern states was a prominent topic, with leaders exchanging views on the need for states and regional parties likely to be affected to coordinate their response.
Kanimozhi’s meetings have fuelled speculation that the DMK is exploring whether regional parties with varying degrees of differences with the Congress can be brought onto a common platform. If the exercise gains momentum, it could lead to a national political formation independent of both the BJP and the Congress.
The leaders are exchanging views on the need for states and regional parties likely to be affected to coordinate their response, but DMK taking the lead sans Congress is fuelling speculations with Kanimozhi likely to meet Punjab Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party leader Bhagwant Mann and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav.
Especially, Kanimozhi’s engagement with Uddhav assumes added significance. The Shiv Sena (UBT) leader has had differences with the Congress in Maharashtra, potentially making him a natural interlocutor in any effort to redraw the Opposition’s political equations. The DMK’s decision to boycott an anti-delimitation meeting convened in Chennai under the leadership of Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay, while the Congress participated, had already exposed differences among Opposition parties over the strategy on the issue.