Kalaignar Wins Thiruvarur; Loses Tamil Nadu

The verdict of the assembly elections in Tamil Nadu sends a loud and clear message to politicians - corruption is public’s Enemy No 1. The issue of corruption has hurt the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam(DMK) in Tamil Nadu - the 2G scam, which has tainted the party’s First Family, seems to have nudged voters towards Jayalalitha, who heads the rival AIADMK.

Beleaguered DMK has not only lost its power to rival AIADMK but the grand old Dravidian party also lost its status as the principal opposition party in the state assembly to actor Vijayakanth’s DMDK(29 Seats). The DMK contested 119 seats with 63 allotted to its partner, the Congress. Together, they did not manage even 40 seats(DMK-23, Congress-5) .

Much to the embarrassment, the DMK team would be sitting next to Vijayakanth and his deputy.

However DMK chief, M. Karunanidhi, retained his winning spree as an MLA with his victory from Tiruvarur Assembly constituency. He wins in State Assembly elections, for a record 12th time, this time from his native town.

He won by a huge margin of 50,249 votes, defeating his nearest AIADMK rival Kodavasal M. Rajendran. Karunanidhi polled 1,09,014 votes and Rajendran, 58,765 votes.

Karunanidhi has contested 11 times in the Assembly polls since 1957 and won all of them.

Karunanidhi first contested for the Assembly in Kulithalai in 1957. Then he moved to Thanjavur in 1962, contested from Saidapet in 1967 and 1971, from Annanagar in 1977 and 1980, from Harbour in 1989 and 1991, and from Chepauk in 1996, 2001 and 2006.

This time he preferred Tiruvarur, his native place. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president chose the Tiruvarur Assembly constituency not only because of his affinity to the town – the seat had been de-reserved after decades of being earmarked for Scheduled Caste candidates – but also because his winning prospects were seen to be better here than the DMK’s traditional strongholds in Chennai.

With DMK party president M. Karunanidhi declaring that the people of Tamil Nadu have give him ‘proper rest’, his son and party treasurer, M.K Stalin, is expected to lead DMK in the House.

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