CHENNAI: Though projected as a chief ministerial aspirant and the leader of a six-party conglomerate, the results have put the political future of
DMDK
leader
Vijayakant
at stake. Contesting in Ulundurpet, he was placed a distant third and lost his security deposit.
Having lost all the seats it contested, DMDK will lose its state party status, which it achieved after winning 29 seats in 2011 election.
The DMDK’s vote-share is barely 2.5% even in the northern districts in which the party boasted of a strong presence. One of the main reasons cited for his loss was his public image.
In most places, Vijayakant was seen slapping aides, calling them names or threatening them if they failed to obey his orders. Many of his party men including MLAs moved to other parties.
The latest split came when a section of his MLAs and fan club heads left the party over his decision not to ally with the DMK – considered a winning proposition by many. Vijayakant though was unfazed by all this and he and his wife, Premalatha, nonchalantly claimed that the party was a one-man army headed by Captain.
Observers also fault the choice of Vijayakant’s constituency. While in the past, Vijayakant had demonstrated that he had made inroads into vanniar areas, this time the PMK was intent on wrenching back its support base. Once Vijayakant’s candidacy was known, the PMK changed its candidate so it could put up a fight. The vanniar candidates – Vasanthavelu G R of the DMK and K Balu of the PMK -- took away a significant chunk of the vanniar votes, leaving Kumaraguru R (AIADMK) belonging to the udayar community to win hands down.