After drubbing, DMDK may lose state party status

 Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam is all set to lose its recognition by the Election Commission since it managed less than 6% votes in the Tamil Nadu elections.

In a spectacular fall from grace, the Vijayakanth-led outfit will also lose its state party status which it gained by winning 29 seats in 2011 elections and becoming the principal opposition in the Assembly.

DMDK has also become the first party in Tamil Nadu’s poll history to have gone from being the principal opposition with ten per cent vote share to losing all the seats it contested.

The party’s decimation on the polls that saw the two Dravidian parties amass the available seats was characterised by the woeful third-place finish by its leader Vijayakanth in Ulundurpet constituency behind his AIADMK and DMK rivals.

The party’s vote share is barely 2.4 per cent, securing 10,34,384 votes out of the 5.8 crore votes on offer.

“A circular will be sent to all the parties whose vote share has gone down below the fixed norms,” a senior Election Commission official told DH.

He said the poll panel recognised parties on the basis of them functioning continuously for five consecutive years or polled four to six per cent in Assembly or Lok Sabha elections in a particular state.