Chennai: The ruling DMK-led Front is all set to repeat its 2019 victory show as its candidates are leading in 37 of the total 39 seats in Tamil Nadu as counting of the votes polled in the April 19 elections to the 18th Lok Sabha began on Tuesday, amid tight security.
As per the trends available four hours after the counting began, the DMK led alliance was leading in 37 seats in the State, while the main Opposition AIADMK-led alliance and the BJP, heading another front, in one seat each.
While the DMK is leading in 21 seats, including all the three constituencies in Chennai considered as its stronghold, its alliance partners, including Congress is leading in eight seats, while VCK, CPI, CPI(M) in two seats each and MDMK and IUML in one seat each.
Almost all the prominent candidates of DMK and its allies have established sizeable leads, as the gap gets widening with every round of counting.
Almost all the sitting MPs of the DMK, Congress, VCK and the Left parties are leading in their respective constituencies.
Among them were DMK’s former Union Ministers Dayanidhi Maran (Central Chennai), T R Baalu (Sriperumbudur), S.Jagathrakshagan (Arakkonam), A.Raja (Nilgiris-R), Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and Party President M.K.Stalin’s sister Kanimozhi (Thoothukudi), Congress nominees Karti Chidambaram (Sivaganga), who is son of former Union Minister P.Chidambaram, and prominent new face–Durai Vaiko, son of Mr Vaiko and MDMK Principal Secretary in Trichy seat.
As the trend indicated a clear and resounding verdict for the DMK, jubilant party cadres, including women, celebrated it by bursting crackers and distributing sweets at DMK headquarters Anna Arivalayam in the city.
Though the AIADMK was not leading in any seat as per the Election Commission update, its alliance candidate Vijay Prabhakaran, who is the son of late actor-politician and DMDK founder Vijayakanth is leading in Virudhunagar against sitting Congress MP Manickam Tagore.
AIADMK, an arch rival of the ruling DMK–as the poll battle was always between these two dravidian majors thus far– was pushed to the third spot in some of the constituencies, behind the BJP.
AIADMK, which managed to forge a small front after severing ties with the BJP in the run up to the polls and is facing its first electoral test under the unitary leadership of former CM Edappadi K.Palaniswmai, who is also the Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly, is heading for its sixth successive electoral debacle that started from 2019 LS polls, 2021 Assembly polls (which saw the DMK returning to power after 10 years), civic body elections to the Rural and Urban local bodies and the Erode Assembly seat bypoll.
BJP’s alliance party nominee Ms Sowmya Anbumani, who is the wife of PMK President and Rajya Sabha MP Dr Anbumani Ramadoss–also a former Union Minister–is leading in party’s stronghold of Dharmapuri. She is testing her electoral fortunes for the first time.
Key BJP candidates, including party State President K.Annamalai (Coimbatore), former Telangana Governor and Puducherry Lt.Governor Ms Tamilisai Soundararajan (Chennai South), Union Minister L.Murugan (Nilgiris-R) are trailing behind DMK nominees, while former Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan is trailing behind Congress nominee Vijay Vasanth, who is the son of late MP H.Vasanth Kumar in Kanniyakumari.
Ms Tamilisai is facing her second successive Lok Sabha polls after losing to Ms Kanimozhi in Thoothukudi in 2019.
Ousted AIADMK leader O.Panneerselvam, also a former CM, is trailing behind IUML nominee in Ramanathapuram.
Counting also began for the lone seat in the adjoining Union Territory of Puducherry, where sitting
MP and Congress candidate V.Vaithilingam(DMK’s ally) is leading against BJP’s A.Namasivayam. AIADMK is in the third spot.
It may be noted that of the total 40 seats (39 in Tamil Nadu and one in Puducherry), the DMK Front won a total of 39 seats and the AIADMK one seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, while the BJP drew a blank.
