CHENNAI: Seeman’s Naam Tamilar Katchi’s (NTK) decision to field 50% female candidates in the Lok Sabha elections has been validated as the women have won more votes than their male counterparts.
The NTK garnered a total of 16.67 lakh votes gaining an overall vote share of 3.88%. The female candidates contributed more than 50% of the tally, polling a total of 838,329 votes.
The NTK contested in all the Lok Sabha seats excluding Vellore (where the polling was deferred) and Nilgiris, where their candidate’s nomination was rejected. The NTK had fielded 19 male and 19 female candidates, which made them the only party to give equal representation for men and women.
Candidates like Kaliammal, who stood from Chennai North, became popular for their campaigns on social media.
The NTK increased their vote share despite the presence of Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam. Interestingly, in the 19 constituencies where the NTK fielded female candidates, they have managed to secure more votes than the candidates fielded by Kamal Haasan’s party.
Initially, when the NTK decided to implement the 50% quota for women, it was not seen as a vote-gaining strategy. Many experts were dismissive of the move. With positive results, Seeman’s decision has met with success and could likely mark the start of a new trend.