CHENNAI: It was a rare day in the political history of Tamil Nadu, when both the Dravidian majors, facing elections under fresh leadership after decades, had something to cheer about and a few missteps to reconsider. Both DMK chief MK Stalin and Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami were able to prove their mettle to their cadre.
While the DMK-combine made a sweep in the Lok Sabha polls to 38 segments in Tamil Nadu — excluding Vellore where elections were countermanded over allegations of voter bribing — winning all but one seat, the AIADMK wrested nine of the 22 bypoll seats and secured its position in the State government (as per leads at 9pm Thursday).
Not just that, the failure of AMMK to impress the voters, despite claiming to be the ‘real faction’ of AIADMK, is likely to boost the morale and cadre base of AIADMK in the near future. More importantly, experts feel Palaniswami’s ability to ensure political stability in the State will help him emerge from the shadows of the party’s late supremo J Jayalalithaa’s legacy.
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Ironically, the overwhelming victory has left the DMK puzzled. It has substantial numbers in Parliament where it’s not a part of the government or the ruling alliance. In the Assembly, it failed to capture the required number of bypoll seats. In short, despite its victory, the DMK will have no role in the government -- Centre or State.
The AIADMK, on the other hand, has scored where it matters. It has secured sufficient numbers to retain majority, even if a few disgruntled MLAs were to turn rebels. The 9 new MLAs will enhance AIADMK’s strength in the House to 123, including Speaker, while the required number to win a floor test is 118.
In fact, this might come in handy for the AIADMK as five MLAs have been sending troubling signals to the party. Of these, three legislators have already been served notices for openly supporting AMMK chief TTV Dhinakaran. Two others have recently opposed the position taken by the party on a few issues.
Though the numbers seem to be cutting fine, sources tell Express that BJP winning power at Centre with a resounding mandate will “ensure that rebellious AIADMK MLAs fall in line”.
In fact, the tables could turn now and AMMK chief TTV Dhinakaran might face a tough time retaining his loyalists and cadre. His ambitious claims of beating AIADMK’s vote margin have fallen flat, and dreams of “capturing” the party busted.
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The PMK, for the third consecutive time, has put up a poor show. The party, including its youth icon Anbumani Ramadoss, failed to win even a single seat despite a realignment of strategy ahead of this elections.
BJP’s TN stars fail to make a mark
Despite solid campaigning, senior leaders of BJP, including Pon Radhakrishnan, Tamilisai Soundararajan and H Raja were defeated, leaving TN as one of the few States were BJP did not get a single seat