VijayKanth Record in TamilNadu ELection

Five Years Old  DMDK Big Gains at PMK,VCK

 

 

Riding high on the anti-incumbency wave, the five-year-old DMDK, led by actor-turned-politician Vijayakanth, has made huge inroads into the Vanniyar heartland, causing considerable damage to the PMK and its dalit ally VCK.

The party emerged as the second largest party in the 14th Tamil Nadu assembly. Out of the 41 segments it contested, the DMDK has won in 27 seats and is leading in two others.

Of them, 23 are in northern and western regions of the state, considered PMK strongholds. In fact, the PMK's success rate is just 10% — it has won or is leading only in 3 of the 30 seats it contested. The VCK has been routed.
Significantly, the PMK will lose the state party status. Vijayakanth described the electoral outcome as a victory over "money and muscle power."

Since its electoral debut, winning Vriddhachalam assembly segment in the 2006 assembly polls, the DMDK has been steadily cutting into the Vanniyar and dalit vote banks, once considered unassailable. Several of the PMK district functionaries joined the DMDK. Exodus of youth from the party fold to the DMDK caused heartburns to PMK founder S Ramadoss and VCK leader Thirumavalavan. To undo the damage and bring back the youth into his fold, Ramadoss' son Anbumani, over the past one year, had been organizing study camps in villages.

Despite forging a Vanniyar-dalit alliance to ward off the DMDK's threat, election results show caste equations failed to salvage the PMK and the VCK. Analysts feel the decades-old strife between the two caste groups could have played a role in their debacle.

In six segments where the DMDK took the PMK head-on, the party has won in four seats. Similarly, the DMDK defeated the VCK in Thittakudi, the lone segment where they tested strengths against each other.

While Ramadoss and Thirumavalavan sought to rekindle caste feelings in northern districts all through the campaign, Vijayakanth relentlessly tried to douse it. The actor also repeatedly hit out at the PMK, calling it a casteist party. Over the years, the PMK's vote share has not seen any remarkable change. It got 5.65% votes in 2006 and 5.72% votes in 2009.

The DMDK, on the contrary, has been steadily improving its vote share. The party secured 8.38% votes in 2006 and 10.08% in 2009.

VijayKanth Record in TamilNadu ELection