DMK and allies set for clean sweep in Tamil Nadu as BJP fails to make inroads it hoped for

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and its allies looked poised for a clean sweep of all 39 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu, with neither the AIADMK nor the BJP leading in any constituency by Tuesday evening, according to Election Commission data.

DMK stalwarts like Kanimozhi, A Raja, T R Baalu, and Dayanidhi Maran, as well as prominent Dalit leader and VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan, and senior Congress leader S Jothimani were all on track for victory.

However, BJP state president and firebrand leader Annamalai, who was seen as one of the party’s strongest candidates in the state, was trailing by over 1 lakh votes to the DMK’s Ganapathy Rajkumar in Coimbatore.

The DMK and allies had won 38 seats in 2019, when the AIADMK, which was in alliance with the BJP at the time, won one.

On Tuesday, Chief Minister M K Stalin, who is also the president of the DMK, thanked voters, saying: “The whole state of Tamil Nadu has united to defeat (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi. The last time, we won 38 seats, and this time, we got one more and won all 39.”

“INDIA alliance was formed by secular forces in the country. Thinking that they have no rivals, the BJP believed they can win 400 seats (in the Lok Sabha). But results show that BJP has become a party that can’t even form the government. The people have given them a fitting reply and that is the victory of the INDIA alliance. After we get a complete picture of the results, we will continue working towards the efforts to protect India and the Indian Constitution. I submit this victory as an offering to the late Kalaignar (former CM M Karunanidhi),” Stalin said.

Asked whether he had ambitions to become the Prime Minister, he said, “I repeat what Kalaignar said many times… ‘I know my heights’.”

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