Tamil Nadu's ruling AIADMK Friday rode a Jayalalithaa wave that swept away all opponents to the effect that there will be no Congress or DMK representative from the state in the Lok Sabha for next five years.
Chennai: Tamil Nadu's ruling AIADMK Friday rode a Jayalalithaa wave that swept away all opponents to the effect that there will be no Congress or DMK representative from the state in the Lok Sabha for next five years.
The AIADMK is leading in 37 of the 39 Lok Sabha seats in the state and the BJP led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is leading in two, as per the trends available till Friday afternoon.
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Jayalalithaa. File Pic
If the trend continues, the AIADMK may turn out to be the third largest party in the 16th Lok Sabha after the BJP and the Congress.
Party cadres have already started their victory celebrations at AIADMK's headquarters.
Jayalalithaa told reporters: "It is a historic, unparalleled, unprecedented victory without any alliance. I would like to thank all those who worked for the victory."
She also conveyed her best wishes to the country's new prime minister Narendra Modi and said her party would act as a responsible political party.
"We are the third largest party and we will act as a responsible political party."
AIADMK leader C.Ponnaiyan told IANS: "The results are as per our expectations. In fact, we were sure of winning all the 39 seats. Further, this is also the first time the party fought the Lok Sabha elections on its own."
According to him, the AIADMK government has implemented several welfare schemes that reached the poor which in turn has resulted the party being victorious.
According to Election Commission, by afternoon the AIADMK had logged a vote share of 44.4 percent as compared to the DMK's around 23.1 percent.
Ponnaiyan said the infighting in the DMK will result in the disintegration of the party while DMDK led by actor-turned-politician A.Vijaykant will be of no consequence.
A Congress member told IANS this is the first time that the state has not returned any Congress member to the Lok Sabha.
Incidentally, the DMK will also be absent in the Lok Sabha this time around. Last time it had 18 members.
"The AIADMK has done extremely well. The party seems to have bettered its own expectations," Ramu Manivannan, professor of political science in the University of Madras, told IANS.
"People seem to agree with her views on various issues advocated strongly by her like the Cauvery river water sharing, Mullaperiyar dam dispute with Kerala, attacks on Indian fishermen by Sri Lanka and others," he said.
Looking ahead, Manivannan said the AIADMK may not be part of the new government at the centre, but its leader J. Jayalalithaa will certainly be in a position to influence the policies of the new government.
He said the DMK's poor show is mainly due to the infighting between M.K. Alagiri and M.K. Stalin, both sons of party president M. Karunanidhi.
"The party has not fared well in northern Tamil Nadu where Alagiri has no influence. His influence is only confined to southern parts of the state," Manivannan said.
People feel the DMK has not espoused the state's cause as strongly as Jayalalithaa has done, he said.
Dhaya Alagiri, son of former DMK leader and union minister Alagiri, tweeted that it was not surprising that AIADMK swept the polls.
The DMK, the major opposition party in the state, has not established lead in any of the 39 seats in Tamil Nadu.
The party's leading lights like A. Raja, Dayanidhi Maran, T.R. Baalu and others are trailing to their respective AIADMK rivals.
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