The scale of victory achieved by the DMK-led front in the Lok Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu is so sweeping that two-thirds (23 constituencies) of the winners have bagged the seats at least with a margin of over 2 lakh votes. In a couple of constituencies, the margin even exceeded five lakh votes.
Although the AIADMK too had won 37 seats in 2014, it could not match the latter in terms of margin of difference. Five years ago, the highest margin was 3.23 lakh votes in Tiruvallur. But this time, it was 5,38,972 votes in Dindigul. In Sriperumpudur too, the margin exceeded the five-lakh mark where former Union Minister T.R. Baalu was elected. In both these seats, the PMK was the runner-up.
Theni, the only constituency where the AIADMK-led coalition won, saw the margin drop to 77,674 votes from 3.14 lakh votes in 2014.
What remains incomprehensible to the AIADMK is how some of its MPs, including M. Thambi Durai and P. Venugopal, lost by huge margins. In Karur, Mr. Thambi Durai, who won by a margin of about 1.95 lakh votes five years ago, lost to Congress’s S. Jothimani by around 4.2 lakh votes. Likewise, Dr. Venugopal, who had the distinction of securing the highest margin in 2014 in Tiruvallur, was defeated by a margin of 3.57 lakh votes.
Apart from the anti-Modi narrative, “adverse effects” of demonetisation and the implementation of Goods and Services Tax are being cited as factors that contributed to such an overwhelming victory. Americai V. Narayanan, spokesperson of the Congress, said the perception of the Central government being “anti-Tamil” got reinforced in the last two or three years. This could be substantiated with Prime Minister Narendra Modi not visiting the State in the wake of Cyclone Gaja and his refusal to meet farmers, who protested in New Delhi two years ago, Mr. Narayanan said.
Another Congress leader said the presence of the Congress in the DMK camp had created “confidence” among voters that the alliance was best placed to give a “fitting reply” to the BJP-led government and this was yet another reason for the nature of the verdict.
D. Jayakumar, Fisheries Minister, and S. Semmalai, senior leader of the AIADMK, termed the defeat as a “temporary setback” and said the voters were “carried away” by assurances that “cannot just be implemented.” They said the State government’s continuance had been assured by the outcome of the Assembly byelection. Mr. Semmalai expressed the confidence that his party would recover this time, just as it did after suffering a similar defeat in the 1980 Lok Sabha polls.
