: The DMK on Tuesday sought to make light of the ruling AIADMK’s victory in the by-poll to Thiruparankundram constituency and deferred polls to Aravakurichi and Thanjavur constituencies, saying that in the future, the ruling party would face defeats.
“The votes polled by the DMK, despite the money power of the ruling party and the Election Commission of India’s failure to check the irregularities, are proof that the AIADMK would certainly face a defeat in the future,” claimed DMK treasurer M.K. Stalin, who spearheaded his party’s campaign in the three constituencies.
He said people were fully aware that all the ministers camped in these constituencies to secure a victory for the ruling party.
ADVERTISEMENT
Mr. Stalin’s view was echoed by former Minister Thangam Thennarasu, who said the DMK’s vote share remained unaffected despite its loss.
“In Thiruparankundram, we have retained our vote base while the absence of the third front, which contested in the general election, has increased the margin of victory for the AIADMK candidate,” argued Mr. Thennarasu, who worked in the constituency.
In the general election held in May, the DMK candidate M. Manimaran had polled 70,461 votes. The party changed its candidate in the by-election and Mr. Saravanan secured 70,362 votes, though the victory margin for the AIADMK had almost doubled from 22,992 votes in May to 42,670 votes now.
ADVERTISEMENT
Stalin’s campaign
Pointing out that the DMK was not able to win the constituency since 1996, he said Mr. Stalin’s intensive campaign prevented the ruling party from making inroads into the DMK’s vote bank.
“Even though ministers criss-crossed every nook and corner and managed 10 booths each, we reduced the AIADMK’s margin in many booths,” he said.
DMK spokesperson T.K.S. Elangovan contended that if the elections to Thanjavur were not deferred, winning the seat in May would not have been difficult for his party as it had won in many of the neighbouring constituencies then. While DMK candidate Ubayadullah secured over 68,000 votes in the 2011 elections, this time, the party’s nominee Anjugam Bhoopathy polled 6,000 votes additionally.
“We had a strong candidate in Anjugam Bhoopathy. When you hold election separately for a constituency, the ruling party takes advantage of the situation,” he argued.
In Aravakurichi, he said AIADMK candidate Senthil V. Balaji left no stone unturned to secure a victory as he was in the race for a Cabinet berth.