COIMBATORE: DMK president MK Stalin had, during election campaign, announced that his party would make an impact in the Kongu region, which was considered an AIADMK fortress. However, the AIADMK managed to take a lead in 26 out of 38 constituencies in western Tamil Nadu consisting of Coimbatore, Tirupur, Erode, Nilgiris, Salem, Namakkal, Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri.
It may be said that the western region has contributed significantly for the AIADMK’s overall tally in the 2021 elections. In 2016, the party managed to get victory in 45 seats in the western region, when it contested under the leadership of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.
Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, Municipal Administration Minister SP Velumani, Education Minister KA Sengottayan, Electricity Minister P Thangamani and senior party leader KP Munusamy are among AIADMK heavyweights who have won.
In Coimbatore district, KR Jayaram, who is the urban district secretary of MGR youth wing, has defeated DMK’s lone sitting MLA N Karthik at Singanallur constituency. Except Coimbatore south constituency, which was allotted to BJP’s Vanathi Srinivasan, AIADMK candidates have taken a lead in all the nine other constituencies. Later in the day, Vanathi Srinivasan was declared winner. Minister SP Velumani, who contested from Thondamuthur constituency, secured 1,23,538 votes against DMK’s Karthikeya Sivasenapathy who got 81,829 votes. The margin was 41,709 votes, excluding postal votes.
In Nilgiris, AIADMK won in Gudalur and DMK alliance secured victory in Coonoor and Udhagamandalam constituencies. In Tirupur district, AIADMK candidates took a lead in five out of eight seats, including Avinashi, Tirupur North, Palladam, Udumalaipet and Madathukkulam. The DMK alliance took a lead in Kangeyam, Tirupur South and Dharapuram.
In Tirupur district, AIADMK candidate and Assembly Speaker P Dhanapal retained Avinashi, while Animal Husbandry Minister Udumalai K Radhakrishnan retained Udumalai and KN Vijayakumar held back Tirupur North constituency.
In Erode, AIADMK candidates took a lead in Bhavani, Gopichettipalayam, Perunthurai and Bhavani Sagar. KA Sengottayan, who contested in Gopichettipalayam, had a margin of 29,007 votes over DMK candidate GV Manimaran. The DMK alliance secured victory in Anthiyur, Erode west and Erode East.