In the recently concluded assembly elections, all the DMDK-PWF candidates lost their deposit in the 11 constituencies in Salem District and only one managed to touch the 10,000 votes mark.
The DMDK had fielded candidates in five constituencies – Salem South, Omalur, Gangavalli-reserved, Yecaud and Mettur; while the VCK men were in fray in Salem South and Attur-reserved; TMC in Salem North and Sankagiri and the CPI in Veerapandi and CPI (M) in Edappadi.
Three MLAs
Among the constituents of the alliance, the stake of DMDK were high as it had three MLAs – ‘Alagapuram’ R. Mohanraj (Salem North), S. R. Parthiban (Mettur) and R. Subha (Gangavalli-reserved) – elected from the district in the last Assembly.
Last poll
In the last elections, the DMDK had established cent per cent record in the AIADMK-led alliance.
Mr. Parthiban turned rebel and contested as a candidate of Makkal DMDK in the DMK alliance in the same Mettur constituency.
The DMDK fielded the rest two incumbents. While Mr. Mohanraj was shifted to Salem West constituency, Mrs. Subha was fielded in Gangavalli seat.
10,000 votes mark
Mr. Mohanraj managed to secure 8,962 votes and Mrs. Subha polled 7,114 votes. The DMDK suffered a big jolt, when the party’s treasurer A. R. Elangovan could manage only 9,744 votes in Omalur constituency. In Mettur seat, which the DMDK held, its candidate R. Pupathi could poll only 5,892 votes.
The only DMDK candidate to cross the 10,000 votes mark is C. Kumar in Yercaud-reserved constituency, where its candidate polled 10,455 votes.
The TMC fielded R. Devadas, former MP, in Salem North and K. Selvakumar in Sankagiri.
While the former got 4,157 votes, Mr. Selvakumar tallied 5,633 votes.
The VCK fielded its district secretary G. Jayachandran in Salem South and K. P. Adityan in Attur-reserved seats. While Jayachandran polled 3,983 votes, Adityan got 8,532 votes.
Left parties
The left parties CPI and CPI (M) fielded its district secretaries A. Mohan and P. Thangavelu in Veerapandi and Edappadi constituencies. Both were newcomers to the election field.
Both faced political heavyweights in their respective constituencies – the CPI candidate faced ‘Veerapandi’ A. Rajendran, in Veerapandi and CPI (M)’s Thangavelu was pitted against ‘Edappadi’ K. Palaniswami in Edappadi constituency.
Weaker section
While Mr. Mohan polled 6,483 votes in Veerapandi, Mr. Thangavelu could manage only 5,437 votes in Edappadi. Both the CPI and CPI (M) candidates hailed from weaker sections and the party men pinned lot of hope on the electorates that they will favour them. “Our hoped were belied”, said a senior cadre of CPI. All the candidates of the DMDK-PWF alliance forfeited their deposits. A cross section of the left party cadre conceded that they did not expect such a trouncing. “We knew that the party had no chance of winning, but we expected a respectable defeat,” they said and blamed the lavish spending by AIADMK and DMK for the same.
