Vikravandi bypoll: AIADMK stand fails to impact as votes go DMK’s way

CHENNAI: The ruling DMK registered a thumping margin of 67,000 votes and retained the sitting seat, thanks to principal opposition AIADMK which boycotted the bypoll, alleging that a free and fair poll was not possible when DMK is ruling the State.

Since then, the biggest question was where the AIADMK votes will go as it was a walkover. It has always been dubbed in Tamil Nadu that the AIADMK votes will not go to DMK, but the results have shown that the bypolls are different from general Assembly polls.

According to the Election Commission of India, the DMK candidate Anniyur Siva secured 1,24,053 votes registering a 63.22 vote percentage, followed by the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) candidate C Anbumani registering 56,296 votes with a vote share of 28.69 percent.

The ambitious Naam Tamilar Katchi’s (NTK) K Abinaya managed only 10,602 votes and the party registered a dip in its vote share. The party secured 5.4 per cent votes and the NOTA garnered 859 votes which is 0.44 per cent. In the just concluded Lok Sabha polls, NTK registered 8.2 per cent votes.

Out of 762 postal ballot papers polled, DMK candidate Anniyur Siva received 493 votes, the PMK candidate got 222 votes and the NTK candidate secured 41 votes.

Pointing to AIADMK boycotting the bypoll, CPM K Balakrishnan said that the voters have rejected AIADMK’s decision by recording 83 per cent votes in the election.

“The fact that DMK, which won the last 2021 election by a margin of 9,000 votes, has won by a margin of 67,000 votes this time is an example of the influence of the INDI Alliance,” he said.

Former AIADMK leader Bangalore Pughazenthi said that the AIADMK votes have gone to the arch-rival DMK as the party chickened out from contesting. The voters and AIADMK cadres have ignored the call of AIADMK leader Edappadi K Palaniswami to boycott the bypoll.

“PMK fought against the mighty ruling DMK which pressed the State ministers and resourceful DMK functionaries to woo the voters resulting in blatant poll violations. Village-specific voter turnout analysis by Thanthi TV has shown that the votes of AIADMK and the common votes have migrated to PMK and this is a moral victory for the PMK,” said former PMK MLA Ganesh Kumar.