Staking a claim to being the viable alternative to Dravidian parties, three political parties — the Naam Tamilar Katchi, the Makkal Needhi Maiam and the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam — have garnered around 12.8% of the total votes in the recent Lok Sabha polls.
While the AMMK, led by T.T.V. Dhinakaran, has polled 5.20%, debutant Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM), founded by iconic actor Kamal Haasan, and film director Seeman-led Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) have garnered 3.72% and 3.88% votes respectively.
Looking at the distribution of votes, it is clear that the MNM has developed an urban vote base, while the NTK and the AMMK have done well in the delta regions and parts of southern Tamil Nadu.
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The reasons, however, are wide ranging.
The MNM polled more than 10% votes across the three Parliamentary constituencies in Chennai district — North, Central and South — and the Coimbatore Lok Sabha constituency.
The party also garnered 9.63% in Sriperumbudur constituency and 8.37% in Madurai. In rural areas, however, the party struggled.
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For instance, the MNM couldn’t touch 3% vote share in Tenkasi, Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Karur, Sivaganga, Ramanathapuram, Thanjavur, Nagappattinam, Mayiladudhurai and Kanniyakumari Parliamentary constituencies. The party also didn’t do well in many of the Parliamentary constituencies in the northern districts such as Chidambaram, Dharmapuri, Kallakurichi and Krishnagiri.
The party did reasonably well in the western districts, polling more than 5% in Pollachi and Tiruppur and more than 4% in Nilgris and Erode.
‘Protected poverty’
MNM leader Kamal Haasan said poverty and large scale bribing of voters in the rural areas were responsible for the party not doing well there.
“The protected ‘poverty’ of the people of Tamil Nadu is the reason for it. They keep it [poverty] that way to use them once in five years,” said Mr. Haasan. The actor-politician said the party had performed well in such a short period of time. The MNM’s focus on urban infrastructure and water issues resonated well with the urban voters.
The biggest surprise of the election was the manner in which the AMMK capitulated when it was expected to substantially take over the AIADMK’s vote bank.
The party obviously isn’t happy with the final result. AMMK’s Theni Parliamentary constituency candidate, Thanga Tamilselvan, said they thought they would be identified as the actual AIADMK in Tamil Nadu.
“The people might have thought that voting for the DMK-Congress is a better alternative in the Lok Sabha elections. I don’t think it is a vote for the DMK,” he said.
The AMMK polled more than 10% of votes in Virudhunagar, Ramanathapuram and Sivaganga districts. The party also polled more than 7%, but less than 10% in districts such as Tenkasi, Thoothukudi, Thanjavur and Tiruchirapalli. In the northern districts, the AMMK struggled, with the party garnering just 0.76% in Krishnagiri constituency.
Explaining why the party couldn’t win seats in the Assembly bypolls, Mr. Tamilselvan said: “In the Assembly constituencies, money played a huge role.” He agreed that actors such as Kamal Haasan were able to connect with the urban voters more.
The NTK polled much more than the MNM, but it didn’t poll votes as high in any constituency. While the NTK got a vote share of 3.88%, its highest vote share in a Parliamentary constituency was just 6.66% in Sivaganga constituency, followed by 6.2% in Tiruchirapalli.
Agri-centred policies
NTK general secretary Chandrasekaran said the reasons for the party’s popularity in rural areas could be attributed to its ‘agri-centred’ policies.
“Our policies are centred around agriculture. We talk about making farmers government servants. We say that mountains shouldn’t be destroyed and that water has to be conserved. We are concentrating on rural Tamil Nadu and on how to create a rural-based economy,” he said.