J Jayalalithaa was elected as the leader of the AIADMK legislative party on Friday.
Advertisement
2ND LEAD [TamilNet, Thursday, 19 May 2016, 18:02 GMT] Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK retains government by winning 134 of 234 seats in the election results announced on Thursday.
The results of the May 16 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections threwup several firsts in the state’s political history, as the counting process drew to a close tonight.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley were among the leaders who greeted Jayalalithaa. Polling in two constituences has been postponed to May 23. Her arch rival DMK-Congress alliance won 98 seats, the strongest ever opposition in the state. –For the first time, the elections saw a formidable six-party mega coalition of DMDK-PWF-TMC.
Since the death of MGR, the government of Tamil Nadu has been alternating between the DMK, led by Karunanidhi, and the AIADMK, led by Jayalalithaa.
Thanking voters for giving her party a successive mandate, Jayalalithaa vowed to repay the “debt” through performance and strive to implement all promises made in her poll manifesto.
Third Front constituent People’s Welfare Front, a four-party alliance of Vaiko’s MDMK, the CPI and the CPI (M) and the VCK all failed to make a mark in this election.The BJP, which is power at the Centre, too failed to score. These are the strongholds where the AIADMK has won most seats, its vote share only slightly marred by the BJP this election.
Advertisement
Exit polls had predicted that the state will stick to the trend of voting in the opposition party – in this case M Karunanidhi’s DMK in a strategic alliance with the Congress. I have no other interest in life except working for the people of Tamil Nadu. The front’s CM candidate Vijayakanth could not secure a win even in his own constituency in Ullundurpet. The AIADMK was founded by MGR in 1972 as a breakaway group of the DMK.
