Despite polling an impressive 6.58% in the State Assembly election in 2021, Naam Tamilar Katchi, headed by filmmaker-turned-politician Seeman, has been facing setbacks. The party suffered a slump in the recently-held urban local bodies elections, and now, it is struggling to keep its flock together.
On Monday, around 2,600 NTK cadre, including prominent office-bearers, and some AIADMK cadre, joined the DMK in the presence of party leader and Chief Minister M.K. Stalin.
DMK’s Dharmapuri MP S. Senthilkumar said that around 1, 500 NTK cadre from Dharmapuri and others from across Tamil Nadu joined the party.
Asked if there was any reason for NTK cadre to join the DMK beyond the fact that it was the ruling party in the State, Dr. Senthilkumar said, “The cadre have probably realised that there is no scope for growth within the party. There is nothing in it for them. There is also an allegation that Mr. Seeman prefers people from a particular caste, and when it comes to giving women important party posts, he often picks his own relatives. Even when he gives the party ticket to women and Dalits, it is usually in seats that are impossible for them to win.”
According to him, the NTK zonal secretary and candidate from Harur Assembly constituency in 2016, the party’s Pappireddypatti candidate in 2019, former NTK district secretary and candidate for Sivaganga MP in 2019, and an NTK Village Panchayat president from Ramanathapuram district were among those who joined the DMK.
Before the Assembly election last year, two well-known leaders of the party – Rajiv Gandhi and professor Kalyanasundaram –joined the DMK and the AIADMK, respectively.
Since then, the DMK has been claiming that a steady stream of youngsters from the NTK have been moving towards the DMK.
NTK spokesperson Idumbavanam Karthik said these developments were insignificant when it came to the big picture, and claimed that the number of NTK cadre who joined the DMK was vastly exaggerated.
“A party will always have people coming in and going out. Those who have left were already those who were not working for the party or were sidelined,” he said.
Asked if the switchover was linked to the party’s dismal performance in the recent local bodies elections, Mr. Karthik said losing cadre to other parties or even losing elections have not derailed the NTK from its stated goal of inching towards capturing power in the State.
“In 2016, we fought the election saying we want to come to power, and got 1% of the total votes. In 2019, we again lost, but got 4% of the votes. In 2021, we couldn’t win any seat but got 7% of the votes. None of this has affected us. How can a slump in the local bodies elections affect us? We are working towards winning the State Assembly election in 2026,” he said, adding, “Rajiv Gandhi (who left the NTK and joined the DMK before the 2021 Assembly election) was trying to carve out a space for himself within the DMK and maintain it by luring those who have been sidelined.”
DMK spokesperson Rajiv Gandhi, who was a prominent face of the NTK on television channels, often attacking the DMK before joining it, said it was very much possible that those who joined the DMK were sidelined. “But one must ask: why were they sidelined? Whenever anyone questions Mr. Seeman’s ideological confusion or his high-handed behaviour within the party, they are sidelined. Nobody can deny that those who have joined the DMK from the NTK were holding important party posts,” he claimed.
