Although DMK could not wrest power, it is clearly on the way to becoming a robust Opposition party winning a handsome number of seats.
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The AIADMK’s vote share in 2016 is more than 40% while the DMK cornered over 31% on its own (its biggest ally Congress got 6.5%). No party or front has won two consecutive terms in Tamil Nadu over the last four decades.
As polling in Assembly elections in the five states came to an end today, the Election Commission said its surveillance teams seized over Rs 178 crore in cash there. This however didn’t go down well with a lot of people who took to social media to criticse the behaviour of her supporters.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose party had dubbed Jayalalithaa corrupt during the election campaign, promptly congratulated her. For Monday’s oath taking ceremony the entire auditorium has been given a new look as several Chief Ministers, industrialists and other senior leaders from different parties are invited.
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.
But its Chief Ministerial candidate Anbumani Ramadoss, who is also the Dharmpauri Lok Sabha MP, is in the third place in Pennagaram and DMK candidate PNP Inbasekaran is leading by a margin of 10,000 votes over his nearest AIADMK rival K P Munusamy. Ms Jayalalithaa will be sworn in as Chief Minister on Monday at the Centenary Auditorium of the University of Madras, where she was sworn in a year ago.
An initial analysis shows that Jayalalitha seems to have lost those 76 seats from the worst flood affected districts of Chennai where government seemingly failed to act on time.
In contrast, the mood was gloomy at the DMK headquarters although it was poised to win many more seats than it did in 2011. “This election has put a permanent full stop to the family rule”, the AIADMK supremo said in a statement as her party forged ahead in the counting of votes polled in the 16 May Assembly elections.
Incidentally, AIADMK had managed a similar feat then also, under party founder and Jayalalithaa’s mentor late M G Ramachandran.
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The AIADMK fielded 227 candidates, leaving seven seats for its allies.
