An alliance with the PMK failed to yield the desired results for the AIADMK-led NDA in north Tamil Nadu — considered the Vanniyar-dominated party’s stronghold.
The DMK-led alliance, which swept the State on an anti-Modi wave, comfortably captured all but one constituency in northern Tamil Nadu — Chidambaram (SC), which was witnessing a seesaw battle at the time of going to print.
While the party recaptured its bastion in Cuddalore, the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), an ally of the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance, managed to make inroads in the PMK stronghold by winning the Villupuram (Reserved) Lok Sabha seat.
The DMK’s candidate, T.R.V.S. Ramesh, a political greenhorn, established a clear lead over his nearest rival R. Govindasamy of the PMK in Cuddalore. From the beginning of the first round, he maintained a steady lead and registered a margin of 1,25,338 votes at the end of round 17, as per the counting trends available.
In Villupuram, D. Ravikumar of the VCK, who contested on the DMK’s symbol, polled 5,54,740 votes at the end of round 19, well on course to defeat rival Vadivel Ravanan of the PMK (who secured 4,28,844) by a margin of 1,25,896 votes.
“The results of the elections show that the anti-Modi factor has had a huge impact here. The voters, it appears, seemed to have made up their minds well before the polls,” a PMK leader said.
From being the predominant party representing the Vanniyars — the majority community in these mostly arid or rain-fed districts — and reaping electoral benefits accruing out of this symbiotic relationship till 2009, the PMK has hit the plateau.
“Dr. Ramadoss has isolated his own community,” said Kalvimani, an activist and educationist. While he mobilised the community politically over the decades and consolidated his party’s support base, he has also isolated the community from others, said the Cuddalore-based activist.
Anti-Vanniyar sentiment
Crediting Dr. Ramadoss for stopping the BJP in the past from gaining a foothold in the northern districts, unlike south or western Tamil Nadu, simply by way of consolidation of the community, he said the PMK suffered from the “anti-Vanniyar sentiment”, a natural corollary against any majority community that is politically dominant for a period of time.
This impacted the AIADMK, which was also the PMK’s ally.
While the election for the Vellore Parliamentary constituency was rescinded by the EC after evidence for the prevelance of cash for votes emerged here, in the Arakkonam Lok Sabha constituency, DMK’s S. Jagathrakshakan maintained a good lead against PMK candidate A.K. Moorthy. Mr. Jagathrakshakan had polled 5,87,333 votes against PMK’s tally of 3,02,435 at the end of the 18th round, when the reports last came in.
In Tiruvannamalai, DMK candidate C.N. Annadurai led over his AIADMK rival by over 3 lakh votes. In Arani, TNCC working president M.K. Vishnuprasad, who is related to PMK leader Ramadoss, was headed towards a comfortable win over his immediate rival.
(Additional reporting by S. Prasad in Cuddalore and T. Madhavan in Vellore)
