JOIN US A massive 21.3 per cent vote swing in favour of the AIADMK front propelled it to a landslide win, helping it grab 37 of 39 constituencies on offer in Tamil Nadu in the April 24 Lok Sabha polls.
It was record of sorts for the ruling party, as it was the first time in the state’s electoral history that a single party has secured such an overwhelming victory in a multi-cornered contest, defeating the rival Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Congress and the BJP alliance made of Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) and Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), who were unable to open their account in the 16th Lok Sabha.
Chief minister J Jayalalitha’s solo performance has not only ensured maximum seats, but had enabled the AIADMK to improve its vote share percentage from 23 per cent in 2009 to 44.3 per cent.
The party believes Jayalalitha’s decision to go it alone was a masterstroke which paid rich electoral dividend and condemned the DMK to its worst ever performance in Lok Sabha elections in 20 years. Karunanidhi’s party has been part of both the BJP-led NDA and Congress-led UPA from 1999.
As the chief minister had described during her campaign, the state had obliged her wish of a “lady” wave right from Tirunelveli to Chennai, as against the “Modi” wave that swept the other states.
The J-tsunami, as one of the party members described, submerged several union ministers including the 2G scam-tainted A Raja and Dayanidhi Maran in its wake.
Though the DMK has no seats to show, its vote share has only slightly dipped by 1.6 per cent to 23.4 per cent. The party returned 18 Lok Sabha members in 2009 polling 25 per cent of the votes.
The BJP, which won just one seat, has increased its vote share in the state from 2.34 per cent in the previous elections to 5.4 per cent, edging ahead of the Congress which saw its vote share plummet to 4.3 per cent from 15.3 per cent in 2009.
The elections indeed proved a virtual wipe out of the Congress, which not only lost in all 39 seats it contested, but 38 of its candidates also forfeited their deposits. This is a far cry from the eight seats it won in 2009 joining forces with the DMK.
The DMDK has also seen its vote share plunge to 5.1 per cent as against 10 per cent in the previous elections.
The fate of the CPI and CPI(M) was not any better. After being dumped by the Chief Minister, they saw their vote share fall to 0.5 per cent from 2.02 per cent and 2.85 per cent respectively in 2009.
On the other hand, Dr Ramadoss-led Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), which could not win a seat polling 5.7 percent in last election, managed to get a seat with 4.5 percent vote share this time.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) did not have any impact polling 0.5 per cent of the 5.50 crore electorate in the state.
The much hyped AAP's Kaniyakumari candidate and anti nuclear activist S P Udayakumar, who was expected to perform well, was pushed back to sixth spot and could get only 15,314 votes.