K N Nehru, DMK principal secretary and municipal administration minister, has hinted that the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) may join the DMK-led alliance in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Nehru said in his address to the party’s Trichy south district cadres on Friday that party president and chief minister MK Stalin has kept the alliance partners Congress, CPI, CPM, VCK, MDMK, IUML, and MMK together for the past ten years.
In addition to the existing parties, he stated that the SDPI, a Muslim party, will join them in the future. He said at the meeting, “Additionally, SDPI may join us. It will be known during election time only.”
He went on to say that the DMK president will reward cadres for their efforts after the Lok Sabha elections. Nehru also chastised governor R N Ravi for referring to the Dravidian model as an outdated ideology. Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi, Trichy south district secretary and school education minister, organized the cadres meeting to prepare them for the LS polls.
Nehru’s remark about SDPI’s possible inclusion in the alliance sparked speculation in political circles. However, DMK sources said KN Nehru’s claim was premature, saying it could only be decided by the party president in the run-up to the elections next year. SDPI, on the other hand, has welcomed the statement of KN Nehru and said, “We want to be part of the DMK alliance. However, the decision on the alliance will be taken only by our general council.”
It should be noted that in February 2022, a clash between cadres of the SDPI and the DMK erupted in the Kottaimedu area of Coimbatore during local body elections. SDPI cadres smashed DMK cadres black and blue as the latter attempted to run in the Muslim-dominated constituency.
SDPI is the political front of the banned radical Islamist terror outfit Popular Front of India (PFI). On September 22, 2022, National Intelligence Agency officials raided more than 100 locations across the country including in Tamil Nadu of SDPI and PFI and arrested 11 members to crackdown on suspected terror-funding activities.
Two SDPI workers were arrested for two separate incidents of vandalism and arson at Kuniyamuthur in Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore district on 23 September 2022.
NIA officials conducted raids on PFI offices in Dindigul district and the homes of office-bearers in Coimbatore, Cuddalore, Ramnad, Theni and Thenkasi districts. Searches were also carried out at the PFI’s office in Chennai and eight places in the Madurai city area.
(With inputs from Times of India)
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