M A I N   N E W S

The iron lady returns
N Ravikumar
Tribune News Service

DMK chief M Karunanidhi. — PTI

Chennai, May 13
The J Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK front struck the DMK-Congress combine like a tsunami and won a landslide victory in Tamil Nadu Assembly elections today, sweeping everything on its way, including the freebies, cash-for-votes and caste politics.

Friday, the 13th, proved to be a disastrous day for the DMK, as ‘Amma’, proved all poll predictions of a hung Assembly wrong and stormed into the Fort St George with an absolute majority on her own. The AIADMK, which contested 160 seats in the 234-member Assembly, won 151 seats and Jayalalithaa, hailed by her followers as ‘Puratchi Thalaivi’ (revolutionary leader), is all set to rule the state with an iron hand again.

As the Jaya juggernaut rolled throughout Tamil Nadu, most of the DMK ministers, including Deputy Chief Minister MK Stalin, bit the dust, while Chief Minister M Karunanidhi was elected to the Assembly for the 12th time from his native town of Tiruvarur by a huge margin of over 50,000 votes.

The DMK government’s free colour TVs, Re 1 a kg rice, medical insurance, marriage assistance and other populist schemes failed to bring it back again with the ‘two leaves’ magic casting a spell over every region, including eastern Tamil Nadu, considered to be a DMK bastion.

The ouster of Vaiko’s MDMK from the AIADMK alliance did not go against the AIADMK, as Jayalalithaa herself compensated for his absence raising the Sri Lankan Tamils issue in the poll campaign and all her alliance parties, including Vijaykanth’s DMDK and Left parties, promising to work for the welfare of the island Tamils. Jayalalithaa also shrewdly neutralised the DMK’s offer of mixies, grinders and laptops, by adding similar promises in the AIADMK manifesto.

The ruling DMK which won 96 seats last time was routed this time, winning only 23 seats in the 234-member Assembly. AIADMK’s ally and actor Vijaykanth’s DMDK came out with flying colours, winning 28 of the 41 seats, it contested. The other allies of the AIADMK, the CPM, which contested 12 seats, won 10 and the CPI, which fielded candidates in 10 constituencies, emerged successful in eight. Actor Sarathkumar and pro-Tiger Dalit leader Krishnaswamy, who were with the AIADMK entered the Assembly.

The Congress, which faced a targeted campaign by pro-Tiger outfits, Tamil writers, poets and film directors, was decimated, winning only five of the 63 constituencies it contested. This is the first election in Tamil Nadu after the May 17 massacre of Tamil civilians in Lanka and this is the worst debacle suffered by the united Congress in the state history.

The PMK, which was a part of the UPA government, during the Lankan war, too was decimated winning only four out of the 30 seats, it contested. The KMK, a casteist party in the DMK alliance, was totally routed.