Even when the Congress faced a stinging defeat across the country in the general elections, the local leaders here take solace from the fact that the party nominee for Puducherry Lok Sabha seat V. Vaithilingam registered the best ever performance in the history of Parliamentary elections in the Union Territory.
The two-time Chief Minister won the seat by a record margin of 1,96,802 votes against his rival K. Narayanasamy of the All India N. R. Congress.
While Mr. Vaithilingam secured 4,44,646 votes, Mr. Narayanasamy polled 2,47,844 votes. The remaining 16 candidates in the fray for the lone seat lost their deposits. Makkal Needhi Miam candidate M.A.S Subramanian came third with 38,046 votes. The previous best performance was by Congress nominee P. Shanmugham when he won the seat by a margin of 98,564.
In a complete sweep, Mr. Vaithilingam dominated in 29 of the total 30 Assembly constituencies as his vote share was way ahead of the AINRC candidate.
His margin was less only in Indira Nagar, represented by AINRC chief and former Chief Minister N. Rangasamy.
In 18 of the constituencies, Mr. Vaithilingam’s victory margin was between 7,000 to 14,000 votes. The highest margin of 13,742 was recorded in Karaikal (South) represented K. A. U. Asana of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, an alliance partner of AINRC and BJP in the Lok Sabha polls.
In constituencies such as Nellithope (represented by Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy), Villianur (represented by PCC chief A. Namassivayam), Mannadipet, Yanam, Mahe and Ozhukarai, the victory margin of the former Speaker was more than 10,000.
What should be of utmost concern for the AINRC is the huge swing of votes towards the Congress in its strongholds such as Mannadipet, Ozhukarai, Embalam, Nedungad and constituencies having a sizeable number of minorities.
Unexpectedly, the Congress candidate could make huge inroads even in Kadirgamam and Thattanchavady, which are considered bastions of Mr. Rangasamy.
The Congress attributed the resounding victory to the sustained campaign the party had launched against the Centre for its alleged support to Lt. Governor to destabilise its government here. The day and night protest held by the Chief Minister in front of Raj Nivas also rightly conveyed the message to the public about the difficulties faced by the government in running the administration, party managers felt.
“There was a clear anger against AINRC for not coming in support of the government in its fight against Lt. Governor. The AINRC was formed to fight for the rights of the UT, but it failed to protest against the Lt. Governor’s day-to-day interference,” said a senior Congress leader. To make the victory even sweeter, Congress’s ally the DMK’s candidate K. Venkatesan breached the AINRC bastion of Thattanchavady in the byelection.
Certificates
The certificates declaring Mr. Vaithilingam and Mr.Venketasan winners were distributed to them by the Election Commission on Friday.
