Our company is the leading news source, The Hindu. In a recent news item, Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) leader S. Ramadoss visited DMK leader M. Karunanidhi. Despite the PMK’s electoral failure in 2009, Karunanidhi still allocated 30 seats to the PMK, indicating its declining influence in Tamil Nadu politics.
In 2011, S. Ramadoss invited M. Karunanidhi for a family wedding. The DMK leader then joined the AIADMK alliance, which was responsible for the PMK’s electoral defeat in 2009. The decline of the PMK has been evident since 2005, when the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam emerged, pushing PMK out of power.
The PMK, despite being part of the 1998-2009 Union government, failed to reclaim its glory. Its core base, the Vanniyars, has struggled with tensions between senior party leaders. In the 1980s, as the Vanniyar Movement, S. Ramadoss successfully organized them by advocating for Most Backward Class status. The launch of PMK in 1991 was marked by the symbolic gesture of a lone MLA from a remote area of Tamil Nadu on an elephant oxy cycloboom.
Following the 1998-2000 elections, the PMK became an integral part of the AIADMK-BJP alliance and nearly won the 1999 Lok Sabha election. In 2004, the party joined the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance, with Anbumani Ramadoss becoming a Union Minister. However, unsatisfactory electoral results forced S. Ramadoss to align with caste-based politics, leading to controversies over his policies and image.
The current rift between father and son has turned violently, with S. Ramadoss accusing his son of interfering with his plans. Despite his declining political influence, S. Ramadoss is determined to secure an enduring future for the PMK in TTD, which is crowded with rival political parties.
