: DMK president M. Karunanidhi used to famously say, “ Nellai enadhu ellai; Kumari enadhu thollai ” (Tirunelveli is my limit and Kanniyakumari is my trouble) given the difficulty the Dravidian parties faced in penetrating the stronghold of the national parties.
However, on Thursday, bucking the trend, the DMK-Congress candidates bagged all six seats in Kanniyakumari district, where the AIADMK was pushed to the third place by the BJP in four constituencies.
BJP veteran M.R. Gandhi got the second place in Nagercoil constituency by polling 46,413 votes. His party colleague C. Dharamaraj won similarly placed in Vilavancode constituency with 35,646 votes. Another BJP candidate Ramesh got the second position in Colachel constituency, securing 41,167 votes. Former MLA and BJP candidate Pon. Vijyaragahavan came second in Killiyur constituency with 31,061 votes.
Appeal from bishop council
In Padmanabhapuram and Kanniyakumari constituencies, the BJP candidates polled 31,994 votes and 24,638 votes, respectively.
“It is the combination of the DMK and the Congress that has tilted the balance here. Had the AIADMK joined hands with the Congress, the results would have been different,” said James Reynold Daniels, former principal of the Scot Christian College, Nagercoil.
Even in the 2011 Assembly polls when there was discontent against the DMK government, the DMK-Congress alliance won four of the six constituencies.
Mr. Daniels also felt that the open appeal of the Tamil Nadu Bishop Council seeking vote for the DMK-Congress combine also played a role in consolidating the votes of minorities.
But V. Umaiyorubhagan, Principal of Noorul Islam College of Arts and Science, said while consolidation of Christian votes resulted in the victory of the DMK alliance, the AIADMK and the BJP split the votes of the Hindus between themselves and could not gain electorally.
“In Kanniyakumari district, the AIADMK is seen as the B-Team of the BJP. Had there been an alliance between the two parties, they would have replicated the performance of the DMK-Congress combine,” he said.
