CHENNAI: The alliance arithmetic that dominated pre-poll calculations offered little comfort to both the DMK and AIADMK fronts following the results, with the allies of both Dravidian majors recording a poor strike rate across the constituencies allocated to them.
The DMK had distributed 70 seats among its allies, including 12 where allied candidates contested on the party’s ‘Rising Sun’ symbol. The results were underwhelming across the board with its allies winning only 17 of those 70 seats, accumulating a combined vote shareof around 7.21%.
The Congress, DMK’s largest ally with 28 seats, won just five — Melur, Colachel, Vilavancode, Killiyoor and Mayiladuthurai. This is a sharp fall from the 18 seats it had won contesting 25 in 2021. In seats the party could not hold, the TVK swept the majority, with the AIADMK winning three and BJP one.
The Congress finished second in 12 of its constituencies but was pushed to third in 10 others. It lost sitting MLA seats in Ponneri, Velachery, Sriperumbudur, Udhagamandalam, Karaikudi, Sivakasi, Tiruvadanai, Srivaikuntam, Tenkasi and Nanguneri. It had 3.37% of votes.
The DMDK, which had secured 10 Assembly seats and a Rajya Sabha nomination through hard bargaining, returned just one — party leader Premalatha Vijayakant winning in Vriddhachalam. The TVK swept five of DMDK’s constituencies, AIADMK took three and PMK one. The party was pushed to third place in five constituencies and recorded a vote share of 1.2%.
The VCK won in Tindivanam with a slender margin of 734 votes and in Kattumannarkoil comfortably, with a margin of over 33,000 votes. In its remaining six constituencies, the TVK won four and AIADMK two. VCK’s overall vote share stood at 1.09%.
The CPI and the CPM, which were given five seats each, won two apiece. The CPI lost three of its seats to TVK, while the CPM lost two to the newcomer and one to AIADMK. The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) held both its seats, Papanasam and Vanniyambadi.
Among the 12 candidates who contested under the ‘Rising Sun’ symbol, the MDMK won two of its four seats; Kongunadu Makkal Desiya Katchi won in Pollachi; Thamimun Ansari of Manithaneya Jananayaga Katchi won in Chidambaram and Manithaneya Makkal Katchi won in Nagapattinam.
Essentially, the TVK won 38 out of its 108 seats where DMK’s allies contested.
The AIADMK’s allies fared even worse, winning only six of 66 seats. The BJP, its largest ally, managed just one seat, Udhagamandalam, winning on a slender margin of 976 votes. Party state president Nainar Nagenthran lost in Sattur by 5,989 votes, with Sasikala’s All India Puratchi Thalaivar Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AIPTMMK) playing spoiler as its candidate polled 11,602 votes, more than twice the margin of defeat. The Tamil Maanila Congress, which contested five seats in BJP’s ‘Lotus’ symbol, drew a blank. BJP’s vote share was 2.97%.
The PMK was AIADMK’s most effective ally, winning four seats — Dharmapuri, Gingee, Vikravandi and Jayamkondam — though the TVK won nine of the constituencies it was allocated and the remaining seats were shared among the DMDK, VCK, DMK, INC and CPM.
Among the nine in which the TVK won, the PMK was contesting against DMK allies. PMK founder Dr S Ramadoss fielded candidates in some of these seats under the banner of Aanaithinthiya Jananayaka Pathukappu Kazhagam, but the challenge did not dent PMK’s performance much.
The AMMK, contesting independently on its ‘Cooker’ symbol, won only in Mannargudi, where its candidate defeated sitting minister T R B Rajaa by 1,566 votes.
Beyond that upset, the party managed second place only in Madathukulam and was pushed to third in its remaining constituencies.