In the AIADMK wave that swept the district, the six-party DMDK-PWF-TMC, which talked about providing an alternative, had to bite the dust. The Bharatiya Janata Party, which contested in alliance with a few minor parties, and Pattali Makkal Katchi too suffered defeats.
Saving grace
But the saving grace for the BJP is that in eight of the 10 Assembly constituencies in the Coimbatore district, it polled more than the six-party alliance.
In places such as Coimbatore South, Thondamuthur, Kinathukadavu, Kavundampalayam, the number of votes the BJP polled was much higher than the DMDK-PWF-TMC.
In Coimbatore South, Vanathi Srinivasan polled 33,113 votes, which was 25,865 votes more than Communist Party of India-Marxist’s 7,248 for C. Padmanabhan.
In Thondamuthur, BJP’s Karumuthu Thiyagarajan had polled 18,978 votes and the DMDK’s K.Thiyagarajan had polled only 7,928.
Only in Mettupalayam, the Tamil Manila Congress’ T.R. Shanmugasundaram polled 13,324 and BJP’s V.P. Jagannathan 11,036.
Likewise, in Valparai Communist Party of India’s Mani Bharathi polled 3,494 and BJP’s P. Murugesan 2,565.
Real alternative
Commenting on the party's performance, BJP’s Coimbatore district president C.R. Nandhakumar said that the party securing third position in many places showed that it was the real alternative to the AIADMK and DMK, and not as claimed by the DMDK-PWF-TMC.
It also clearly showed that people had begun to appreciate Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s policies and programmes.
Communist Party of India Marxist district secretary V. Ramamoorthy said that the alliance’s alternative policies had not reached people, who were yet to appreciate its freebies – free education, healthcare and water.
It would be an on-going struggle for the alliance, he added.
Commenting on his party performance in Coimbatore, Kongunadu Makkal Desiya Katchi leader E.R. Eswaran alleged that both the AIADMK and DMK had bribed the voters. As for his party, the very fact that it had contested in 10 seats in the district was in itself a success.
The fact that money had played a part could be seen in the last four days prior to polling, Mr. Eswaran added.
