CHENNAI: Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK), led by Seeman, has suffered a significant electoral setback in the Assembly polls, with its vote share nearly halving — a development that has triggered concerns within the party over its ability to retain and expand its support base.
The decline is particularly striking as it comes less than two years after NTK crossed the 8% vote share mark in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and secured recognition as a state party. In the current election, however, the party’s vote share dropped to 4%.
According to party sources, NTK secured around 19.72 lakh votes out of the total 4.87 crore votes polled. This marks a steep fall from the over 35 lakh votes (8.22%) it had garnered in the parliamentary elections — a loss of nearly 16 lakh votes.
Within the party, the emergence of TVK, led by actor Vijay, is widely seen as a key factor behind the slide. Leaders acknowledged that a section of NTK’s support base, particularly young voters, appears to have shifted towards TVK, drawn by its fresh appeal and leadership projection.
While NTK has consistently positioned itself as an ideology-driven alternative to Dravidian parties, the latest outcome has sparked debate internally on whether that approach alone is sufficient in a personality-centric political landscape.
Speaking to TNIE, state organiser D Iniyan John said the party continues to retain a committed voter base.
“Though our vote share has declined, we still have the support of around 20 lakh voters. We did not resort to cash-for-votes, and we believe our support base remains genuine,” he said.
At the same time, he acknowledged gaps in electoral strategy. “We should have worked out a plan to effectively counter one of the Dravidian majors. With voters looking for a change in government, we needed to build alliances with like-minded parties earlier. It appears many believed Vijay’s charisma could challenge the incumbent more effectively than our ideological approach,” he said.