The outcome of the Lok Sabha elections from the Nagapattinam constituency indicates that the Left ideology no longer holds sway in public consciousness in this farm labour belt, with multiple factors undercutting the base of the Left front.
This is evident in the percentage of votes polled by the Left candidate.
G. Palanichamy of the CPI polled 9.74 per cent of the total valid votes.
The winner, K. Gopal of the AIADMK, polled 46.85 per cent, while the first runner-up and sitting DMK MP. A.K.S. Vijayan, polled 35.41 per cent.
Traditional strongholdThe only Assembly segment that yielded a good number of votes in each round to Mr. Palanichamy was Thiruthuraipoondi, a traditional CPI stronghold. Mr. Palanichamy secured 40.24 per cent of the votes. However, this is lower than the votes polled by the AIADMK and DMK candidates.
While Mr. Palanichamy polled 36,345 votes, Mr. Gopal polled 64,772 votes and Mr. Vijayan 51,550. While the percentage-wise polling by individual candidates is lesser than the CPI candidate’s, in real numbers, this reserved segment let its candidate down.
Ideological moorings of constituencyHowever, the Assembly segments seen as winners for the AIADMK and the DMK fetched these parties the largest number of votes.
This is true for Nannillam, which yielded its son of the soil Mr. Gopal 98,391 votes (22.66 per cent) of the total 4,34,174 votes polled by him.
Tiruvarur, a DMK stronghold, gave Mr. Vijayan his highest score of 75,985 votes (23.1 per cent) of the total 3,28,095 votes polled by him. Interestingly, Vedaranyam, another DMK stronghold, let Mr. Vijayan down.
He polled just 38,901 votes — a low figure attributed to factionalism.
After three decadesThat the AIADMK won the seat after three decades does represent a dilution in the ideological moorings of the constituency.