Amma wave sweeps Tamil Nadu

AIADMK wins 37 seats; Jaya says no situation yet to support BJP

 An ‘Amma’ wave swept Tamil Nadu on Friday with the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) registering a landslide victory by winning 37 of the 39 Lok Sabha, with the Chief Minister J Jayalalitha’s gamble to contest alone in the elections paying great dividends.

The Opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and its erstwhile ally, the Congress, which had put up a good show in the previous polls, drew a blank.

The star candidates of the DMK, including 2G scam tainted A Raja (Nilgiris), former Union ministers Dayanidhi Maran (Central Chennai), T R Baalu (Thanjavur), suffered an embarrassing defeat at the hands of the AIADMK.

The two remaining seats were won by the BJP and the PMK. This is the best-ever performance by the AIADMK.

This is the first time a single party has won 37 seats on its own. The party won 18 seats in the 1998 polls, with the support of the BJP-led government headed by A B Vajpayee, before withdrawing its support, which toppled the government.

The AIADMK also won all Chennai seats including North, South and Central, considered to be the DMK stronghold. The AIADMK candidates have won by a margin of more than one lakh votes in more than 10 constituencies.

The BJP-led NDA that included the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) led by actor Vijayakanth, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) headed by leader Vaiko and the S Ramadoss-led Vanniyar outfit Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), besides the Left parties and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have also failed to make any big impact at the hustings.

BJP state president Pon Radhakrishnan won the Kanniyakumari seat and PMK candidate and former Union minister Anbumani Ramadoss secured victory in Dharmapuri constituency, in an election otherwise swept away by the AIADMK.
Hailing the party’s massive victory as “historic and unprecedented”, Jayalalitha said the AIADMK had achieved the victory on its own without any alliance partners.

She also wished the new government and expressed hope that it will be friendly towards Tamil Nadu. “We will function as a responsible political party,” she said. When asked whether the AIADMK would support the BJP-led NDA, she said such a situation has not arisen now.

For the DMK, this is yet another worst performance after 1989 and 1991 polls when it failed to win even a single seat.

The sibling rivalry in the DMK’s first family – between former Union minister Alagiri and former deputy chief minister M K Stalin – has also seemed to have dented the party’s show. The Alagiri factor has also wrecked the fortunes of the DMK after he was expelled from the party.

Putting up a brave face, DMK chief M Karunanidhi extended his wishes to the BJP and  Modi and said he bows before the people’s verdict.

For the first time, the Congress drew pathetic picture as none of its prominent candidates performed well. At Sivanganga, considered as the pocketborough of the Congress, Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s son Karti Chidambaram was defeated.

Meanwhile, the lone Puducherry seat was won by R Radhakrishan of All India NR Congress (AINRC) defeating his nearest rival and Central Minister V Narayanasamy by a margin of 60,854 votes.