The Marmalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) has decided to support the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in the bye-poll to the Radhakrishnan Nagar Assembly constituency on December 21, PTI reported on Sunday. MDMK chief Vaiko said the decision to support the DMK was made “considering the interests of Tamil Nadu and the Dravidian movement.”

This is the first time the MDMK will ally with the DMK for an election after the 2006 Assembly polls. “There is a need to teach a lesson to the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam regime, which has lost the trust of the people,” Vaiko told reporters in Chennai on Sunday.

DMK Working President MK Stalin welcomed the alliance. The RK Nagar seat fell vacant after its MLA, former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, died in December 2016.

Asked if the alliance would continue after the RK Nagar bye-election, Vaiko remained non-committal. “This can be taken as a starting point,” he said.

The MDMK chief also lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party government at the Centre for “Hindutva and weakening federalism”. He also criticised the AIADMK for its camaraderie with the Centre.