Jayalalithaa decimates DMK, Congress in Tamil Nadu

In a one-horse race, ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam led by Jayalalithaa on Friday inflicted a crushing defeat on its arch-rival DMK, Congress and BJP-led six-party alliance, winning 4 seats and establishing unassailable leads in 33 out of the 39 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu.

In a consolation to NDA, BJP was leading in Kanyakumari and its ally Paattali Makkal Katchi in Dharmapuri while the DMK faced unprecedented defeat by drawing a blank.

Stretching its winning streak since the assembly polls in 2011, AIADMK won the prestigious Nilgiris (SC) seat when its candidate C Gopalakrishnan humbled 2G scam accused A Raja of DMK by a marging of over 1.09 lakh votes.

The party also won in Nagapattinam (SC), Vellore and Tirunelveli constituencies.

Even as Jayalalithaa almost realised her wish of winning all the seats, the massive mandate given to BJP by the voters across the country upset her plans of playing a vital role at the Centre in a post-poll scenario.

An elated Jayalalithaa said AIADMK has emerged as the third largest party in Lok Sabha and would "function as a responsible political party."

She was candid in admitting that the current situation did not give scope for her party for its participation in government formation remarking "there is no such situation now".

Talking to reporters after her party candidates established comfortable leads, Jayalalithaa described the performance as "historic, unparallelled and unprecedented."

Among those facing defeat were DMK leaders Dayanidhi Maran, T R Baalu and Congress nominees Mani Shankar Aiyar and Karti Chidambaram, son of Finance Minister P Chidambaram, who was in the fourth place in Sivaganga constituency.

DMK, which was rocked by sibling rivalry leading to expulsion of its southern satrap M K Alagiri in the run up to the polls, was in a sombre mood as party chief M Karunanidhi accepted defeat and vowed to work for regaining people's confidence.

The octogenarian leader did not wish to make much bones about the loss, saying party founder Late C N Annadurai believed in not going berserk in victory and getting bogged down in loss.

"DMK accepts people's verdict with a bowed head. We have faced similar losses and bigger triumphs than other parties," he said, adding the party will strive to work towards winning the confidence of people.

What was perceived to be a formidable alliance stitched by BJP with five local outfits including cine-star turned politician Vijayakanth's DMDK, it failed to make any mark on the state's electoral scene barring the two constituencies.

Despair also struck both the Left parties CPI and CPM which did not found favour among electorate in 18 constituencies they contested.

In 2009 Lok Sabha election, DMK had won 18 seats, followed by AIADMK 9, Congress 8, Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India-Marxist, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi one each.