PMK joins hands with BJP in Tamil Nadu ahead of LS polls

Chennai : The Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) on Monday entered an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Tamil Nadu, and will be a part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

For the past several days, PMK, which has a significant influence in northern Tamil Nadu, has been oscillating between the AIADMK and the BJP. PMK founder and party leader S. Ramadoss, and its former state unit president, G.K. Mani were in favour of an alliance with the AIADMK.

However, the party's Tamil Nadu unit president and son of S. Ramadoss - Anbumani Ramadoss, wished for an alliance with the BJP. The BJP, according to sources, is likely to offer a Cabinet berth to Anbumani Ramadoss in the next government.

Anbumani Ramadoss is also a former Union Health minister. Political analysts believe that the BJP, by stitching an alliance with the PMK, can gain tremendously in several districts of Tamil Nadu, and that could be a setback for the AIADMK in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.