DMK's turns '40 out of 40' poll pitch into reality in TN, Puducherry

Chennai, (PTI) 'Narpathum namathey, nadum namathey,' a popular Tamil poll slogan of ruling DMK, which means 'all the 40 constituencies are ours and the nation as well,' is blossoming into a reality with the Dravidian party and its allies set for a spectacular win in all of Tamil Nadu's 39 segments and in the lone Puducherry seat.

Candidates belonging to the DMK and its allies including star nominee Kanimozhi won by huge margins in constituencies where results have been declared and going by the unassailable margins, all other candidates of the Dravidian party and allies Congress, CPI, CPI(M), VCK, MDMK and IUML are all sure to emerge victorious including Dayanidhi Maran (Central Chennai) and T R Baalu (Sriperumbudur).

Even in the constituencies of Coimbatore and Dharmapuri, where BJP and PMK (Saffron party's ally) were confident of a win fell into the DMK's kitty. In Puducherry, where the BJP had hopes of winning has gone the Congress way with senior leader VE Vaithilingam set to win by a big margin.

A key takeaway from the Lok Sabha polls is the continuing popularity of the ruling DMK, led by Stalin and the perfect cohesion at the ground level among alliance partners. Another outcome is the significant contribution of a split in the anti-DMK votes in the victory of candidates belonging to the DMK combine in a number of constituencies.

For instance, till 8.15 pm, VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan got 4,97,705 votes in Chidambaram followed by AIADMK's M Chandrahasan (3,94,262 votes) and BJP's P Karthiyayini (1,64,151 votes). In Coimbatore, DMK's Ganapathy P Rajkumar bagged 4,98,837 votes while BJP's K Annamalai and AIADMK's Singai G Ramachandran received 3,95,559 and 2,04,096 votes respectively.

Stalin single handedly led the campaign for his party and allies and crisscrossed the state with the theme of social justice, and repeated that if PM Modi is again voted to power, he will first do away with reservation as BJP is allergic to social justice and will also change the Constitution.

Without any doubt, the Lok Sabha election campaign of DMK and its allies in Tamil Nadu was led by the 71-year old Stalin whose election messaging appears to have resonated with the electorate.

Reacting to poll victory in Tamil Nadu, Stalin thanked people and said he dedicated the victory to late DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi and said the anti-Modi wave is palpable. He billed the victory historic, trumping BJP's money power and abuse of power. BJP attempted to create an impression of having no electoral rivals by claiming to win over 400 seats but it could not even get a simple majority on its own.

AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami said the results were on expected lines and hit out at the ruling DMK for 'money power,' 'fake propaganda,' and 'conspiracy' and said the outcome does not reflect people's unanimous views. Thanking people, he said: "We have learnt lessons on facing the 2026 Assembly polls. We will get massive victory in the Assembly polls."

Thanking people, BJP Tamil Nadu president K Annamalai said though there is a sense of regret that there is no party nominee was elected to Parliament from the state, he said his party will 'double' its work to get people's love and recognition.

In Ramanathapuram segment, till 8.45 pm, former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, a BJP ally got 3,40,780 votes, DMK ally IUML's K Navaskani clocked 5,06,942 votes while AIADMK nominee P Jeyaperumal registered 99,179 votes. Till 8.45 pm, of the 39 segments results were officially declared only for 10 seats. DMK and allies are the winners and are leading in the rest of 29 seats.