SALEM: The DMK will not adopt any “backdoor” means to form the government, even as the bickering in AIADMK factions continue. Speaking at an event in Salem, Tamil Nadu, DMK working president and leader of opposition in the assembly, MK Stalin said those who had spoken before him had desired that 89 should become 117, i.e., the DMK should come to power.
While the DMK had 89 MLAs in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly, its allies Congress and IUML add up another nine, taking the opposition strength to 98. The simple majority in the present House, where the RK Nagar seat fell vacant last year following the death of then Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, is 117. “Not just 117, our desire is that it (DMK's strength) should become 200. We are patiently waiting for that. The DMK will never come to power through backdoor means. That is the path laid down to us by Kalaignar (Party president M Karunanidhi),” he said. Stalin said his party would reach out to people, get their support and come to power “but are not desperate to come to power through backdoor means”.
He asked what Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao would do “if the ball of the DMK which has 89 MLAs” went to his court. “What action will you take if the ball comes to you. It is a completely different thing that whether DMK will take the ball to him or not. The suspense will be lost if (DMK's strategy) is revealed right away,” Stalin said. “Therefore, the DMK will certainly take a decision after due legal consultation. That decision will not be for our selfish motives but in the interest of the welfare of people of Tamil Nadu. There is no change in that,” he said.
