M Karunanidhi's pep talk to cadres, 'AIADMK too has lost polls'

Seeking to enthuse party workers in the backdrop of electoral setbacks, Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam (DMK) chief M Karunanidhi on Thursday said victory or defeat does not determine a party's growth and stressed that the ruling All India Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam (AIADMK) too had lost polls.

"It cannot be forgotten that the ruling AIADMK lost deposit in a bypoll some years ago. They continued to run the party and hence victory or defeat does not determine a party's growth," the 90-year old leader told party workers at the marriage of a party functionary here.

Apart from losing power to arch rival AIADMK in the 2011 Assembly elections, the DMK faced a rout in this year's Parliamentary polls drawing a blank. AIADMK won 37 out of the total 39 seats and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Pattali Makkal Katch​i​ (PMK) one seat each.

Except "one or two political parties" in Tamil Nadu, parties that spring up anew are mostly "poster" parties, he said.

"Today, in Tamil Nadu politics, leaders who advertise themselves as Bheem in posters are mushrooming," he said.

Interestingly, supporters of DMDK founder President Vijayakanth hail him as "Captain," reminding the "macho icon" image of him in Tamil film world during his heydays as an actor.