DMDK meet to discuss plans for Lok Sabha polls on Sep 1

The executive council of DMDK, the principal opposition party in Tamil Nadu, would meet on September 1 to discuss, among other things, its strategy for the next Lok Sabha polls.

DMDK founder Vijayakant would address the meeting, a party release said.

The meeting assumes significance against the backdrop of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi greeting Vijyakant on his birthday on Sunday. The birthday greetings set off speculation in political circles in the state about alliance between the two parties for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

Vijayakant is presently facing a crisis in his own party with seven of his party MLAs shifting loyalty to ruling AIADMK led by Jayalalithaa.

DMDK has 29 MLAs in the 234-member Assembly including seven rebels.

Its alliance with the AIADMK during the April 2011 Assembly polls in the state fell apart few months after the AIADMK came to power.

DMDK did not go for any alliance with AIADMK and DMK during the recent Rajya Sabha polls and instead sought support from the Congress, which eventually extended its support to DMK's Kanimozhi.