Jaya decimates DMK, Cong

In a consolation to NDA, BJP was leading in Kanyakumari and its ally PMK in Dharmapuri while the DMK faced unprecedented defeat by drawing a blank.

Stretching its winning streak since the assembly polls in 2011, AIADMK won the prestigious Nilgiris (SC) seat when its candidate C Gopalakrishnan humbled 2G scam accused A Raja of DMK by a marging of over 1.09 lakh votes.

The party also won in Nagapattinam (SC), Vellore and Tirunelveli constituencies.

Even as Jayalalithaa almost realised her wish of winning all the seats, the massive mandate given to BJP by the voters across the country upset her plans of playing a vital role at the Centre in a post-poll scenario.

An elated Jayalalithaa said AIADMK has emerged as the third largest party in Lok Sabha and would ‘function as a responsible political party.’

She was candid in admitting that the current situation did not give scope for her party for its participation in government formation remarking ‘there is no such situation now’.

Talking to reporters after her party candidates established comfortable leads, Jayalalithaa described the performance as ‘historic, unparallelled and unprecedented.’

Among those facing defeat were DMK leaders Dayanidhi Maran, T R Baalu and Congress nominees Mani Shankar Aiyar and Karti Chidambaram, son of Finance Minister P Chidambaram, who was in the fourth place in Sivaganga constituency.

DMK, which was rocked by sibling rivalry leading to expulsion of its southern satrap M K Alagiri in the run up to the polls, was in a sombre mood as party chief M Karunanidhi accepted defeat and vowed to work for regaining people’s confidence.

The octogenarian leader did not wish to make much bones about the loss, saying party founder Late C N Annadurai believed in not going berserk in victory and getting bogged down in loss.

‘DMK accepts people’s verdict with a bowed head. We have faced similar losses and bigger triumphs than other parties,’ he said, adding the party will strive to work towards winning the confidence of people.

What was perceived to be a formidable alliance stitched by BJP with five local outfits including cine-star turned politician Vijayakanth’s DMDK, it failed to make any mark on the state’s electoral scene barring the two constituencies.

Despair also struck both the Left parties CPI and CPM which did not found favour among electorate in 18 constituencies they contested.

In 2009 Lok Sabha election, DMK had won 18 seats, followed by AIADMK 9, Congress 8, CPI, CPM, MDMK and VCK one each.

For the first time after the 1991 Lok Sabha elections, the DMK will not have its representatives in the Lower House and similarly Congress will have no nominees from Tamil Nadu after 1998.

The DMK has been part of almost all the regimes at the Centre starting from Deve Gowda’s Ministry of 1996 barring a brief hiatus during 1998-99 when the AIADMK was part of the BJP-led NDA.

The party suffered worst defeats in 1989 and 1991 Lok Sabha elections and could not manage to win even a single seat. From 1962 to 1984, the DMK has always had representatives in the Lok Sabha though the number varied.

If it won 25 seats in the 1967 polls heading a front of several parties including Rajaji’s Swatanthra Party, it had its low in 1984 when it could win only two seats. Now, after 1991, the DMK has failed to win even a single seat.