Having faced the heat of Pollachi sexual abuse case, the AIADMK lost its stronghold in Pollachi Parliamentary constituency with incumbent MP C. Mahendran losing to arch rival DMK’s K. Shanmugasundaram for a margin of 1,73,359 votes.
While Mr. Shanmugasundaram bagged 5,50,905 votes, Mr. Mahendran, who could not maintain lead in any of the 22 rounds of counting, secured 3,77,546 votes.
Confirming his victory when 20th round of counting was over, Mr. Shanmugasundaram told journalists that the hard work of party workers and leadership of M. K. Stalin were decisive factors in the victory.
“Of course, the way how the AIADMK Government handled Pollachi sexual abuse case was reflected in the votes,” he told The Hindu .
The DMK won in the politically happening constituency after a gap of nearly four decades.
The DMK had earlier won thrice in Pollachi since the formation of the constituency in 1951. The last victory for the party in the constituency was in 1980. The AIADMK had the highest number for seven victories from the constituency including two consecutive wins in 2009 and 2014.
Makkal Needhi Maiyam’s Mookambika Rathinam turned second runner up with 59,545 votes in the first ever political test of the new party in Tamil Nadu and in national politics. Naam Tamilar Katchi’s U. Sanuja and Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam’s S. Muthukumar finished fourth and fifth with 31,399 and 26,631 votes respectively.
Of the total number of 10,77,420 votes including postal ballots counted at Dr. Mahalingam College of Engineering and Technology in Pollachi, 10,62,352 were valid votes and 15,068 were none of the above (NOTA).
