Vaiko meets AAP leader ahead of Assembly polls

Chennai, March 31: MDMK founder Vaiko today met Aam Aadmi Party's state leadership here, setting off speculation about a pact ahead of the May 16 Tamil Nadu Assembly polls. Vaiko held a meeting with AAP state convenor Vaseegaran, in what MDMK described as a "courtesy call".

Later, talking to reporters, Vaiko heaped praise on Delhi Chief Minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal and said that AAP's victory in the Assembly elections in that state was a "miracle in Indian political history".

The AAP came to power promising an end to corruption and being a transparent government and the Chief Minister was a "redeemer" whose party faced all kinds of "onslaught" from the Narendra Modi-led central government, Vaiko said.

Meanwhile, MDMK sources said that Vaiko's meeting with Vaseegaran was a "courtesy call" but they did not rule out prospects of an alliance.

The MDMK leader, also the coordinator of the four-party People's Welfare Front (PWF), had met Kejriwal in New Delhi last year. The two had shared stage at that time during a protest against the Modi government's controversial land acquisition bill.

Vaiko has supported the demand for full statehood for Delhi and the neighbouring Puducherry. The Vaiko-led PWF, whose other constituents are CPI(M), CPI and VCK, had clinched a poll pact with Vijayakant's DMDK last week, allotting the actor-politician 124 of the 234 Assembly seats.

PTI