Even as Tamil Nadu saw a sweeping victory by the DMK in the Lok Sabha Elections on Thursday, the performance of the AIADMK’s alliance partners like the PMK and DMDK have posted unimpressive vote-shares for the parties. The PMK, a party predominantly representing the Vanniyar community in Tamil Nadu, was the second major alliance partner of the ruling party in Tamil Nadu, contesting seven seats in the alliance. However, it failed to win even a single seat in the polls, posting a vote share of 5.42%.
The PMK, which had a vote share of 4.4% for eight seats in 2014 has posted a marginal rise to 5.42% across seven seats. The party was part of the NDA in Tamil Nadu in 2014, which also comprised of the DMDK and the MDMK.
However, the sole MP from the party and former Union Minister Anbumani Ramadoss lost his seat by a margin of over 70,000 votes to the DMK’s Senthilkumar who won 5.74 lakh votes in the Dharmapuri Lok Sabha constituency. The DMK beat the party’s other six candidates in Arakkonam, Chennai Central, Cuddalore, Dindigul, Sriperumbudur and Villupuram (VCK’s Ravikumar stood on the rising sun symbol) with wide margins.
The DMDK, which was bargaining hard with both the AIADMK and the DMK for seats prior to the polls, was defeated by spectacular margins in all four seats; its vote share dropping to 2.19% from 5.19% in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
The party was embarrassed after simultaneous backchannel talks with the DMK and the AIADMK were ‘exposed’ by DMK Treasurer Durai Murugan.
DMDK, actor-politician Vijayakant’s party, which was formed in 2005, posted an impressive vote share of 10.3% in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls after contesting in all 39 seats in the state. It has since seen its vote share plummet.
With Vijayakant out of action owing to his ill health, the party is being run by his wife Premalatha and brother-in-law Sudheesh. The party had contested this time around from North Chennai, Kallakurichi, Trichy and Virudhunagar. While DMK won in North Chennai and Kallakurichi, Congress candidates beat the DMDK in Trichy and Virudhunagar.
Source: The News Minute