Alliance with AIADMK only an election tie up: Vaiko

Chennai, Mar 4 (UNI) MDMK General Secretary Vaiko today described the poll pact with AIADMK in Tamil Nadu as an ''election tie-up'' and not an ''ideological alliance''.

Addressing a press conference after signing the seat sharing agreement with AIADMK Supremo J Jayalalithaa under which it was allotted 35 seats for the May eight Assembly polls in the State, Mr Vaiko reiterated that there were no permanent enemies in politics.

''Everywhere in India it's happening. The DMK had an alliance with the BJP in 1998 before it tied up with the Congress for the 2004 Lok Sabha polls'', he noted.

The alliances were forged only at the time of elections and the MDMK would not compromise in its principles, he said.

Asked whether the MDMK had identified the 35 constituencies that it would contest in the ensuing polls, Mr Vaiko said the party would form a committee to identify them.

The issue would be discussed at the MDMK's General Council on March 11 and the list of constituencies would be submitted to the AIADMK before it was finalised.

Mr Vaiko said that the decision to forge an alliance with the AIADMK was not taken overnight.

''It has been in the minds of the MDMK workers over the last two years. They have been subjected to a lot of humiliation.

The party workers were ill-treated by the DMK. I only pacified them and asked them to tolerate the humiliations to stay in the alliance'', he said.

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