Tamil Nadu: AIADMK loses deposit in 7 Lok Sabha constituencies, estranged ally BJP in 11

CHENNAI: The principal opposition party, AIADMK, lost deposit in 7 of the 32 seats that it contested in the just-concluded Lok Sabha election, while the BJP lost the deposit in 11 of the constituencies, reveal data from the Election Commission of India.

Of the 32 seats that it contested, AIADMK lost the deposit in South Chennai, Theni, Thoothukudi, Vellore, Tirunelveli, Kanniyakumari and Puducherry. Of these, it even had to face the additional humiliation of being pushed to the fourth position behind Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK), a nascent party that contested on its own.

The party, which is the principle opposition party in the State Assembly, also lost deposit in Vilavancode Assembly constituency where a bypoll was held along with the general election after the seat fell vacant when Congress’s S Vijayadharini switched over to the BJP.

According to the Representation of People Act, 1951, a candidate who fails to win one-sixth of the valid votes cast in the constituency will lose the security deposit that is paid during the nomination period. The amount fixed is Rs 25,000 in the case of Parliamentary constituency, and Rs 10,000 in the case of Assembly seat.

Not being able to win 1/6th of the valid votes polled as perhaps the clearest indicator of a party’s prominence – of lack of it – in a given constituency, which is a reason for the AIADMK to worry about its performance in the polls.

Its ally DMDK's candidates in Chennai Central and Tiruvallur also lost deposit. In all fairness, though, the only DMDK candidate who had any chance of even putting up a strong fight was party founder late Vijayakanth’s son V Vijaya Prabhakar at Virudhunagar. The debutant came second after giving Congress’s Manickam Tagore a real scare.

The situation was not very better for its ally-turned-bitter foe, the BJP, which lost deposit in 11 of the constituencies it contested. These were North Chennai, Chidambaram, Karur, Nagapattinam, Namakkal, Perambalur, Thanjavur, Tirupur, Tiruvallur, Tiruvannamalai, Virudhunagar. Incidentally, Karur is BJP State unit president K Annamalai’s home district.

Its NDA partners did not fare much better either. The Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar) lost deposit in Thoothukudi, while PMK faced the same fate in Salem, Dindigul, Mayiladuthurai, Kallakurichi, Kancheepuram, and Villupuram. What is noteworthy is that Villupuram is where party founder S Ramadoss’s famous Thailapuram Thottam is located, while Salem, Kallakurichi, and Kancheepuram have a good number of Vanniyar population.

Filmmaker-politician Seeman’s NTK lost deposit from all the 39 seats in Tamil Nadu – it was entirely expected considering that it is a minor party who is gradually trying to create space in the rather crowded Tamil Nadu political arena.