Landslide East Erode win gives DMK-led front an edge for 2024

CHENNAI: Thumping victory of the DMK-backed candidate and veteran Congress leader EVKS Elangovan from Erode East constituency has given the Secular Progressive Alliance an edge for the 2024 general elections.

Though bypolls have a different voting pattern and need not necessarily reflect the mood of the voters in the state, political pundits are of the opinion that the huge margin of victory is a clear indicator of a positive reflection of the rule of DMK government headed by M. K. Stalin.

In the February 27 bypolls, EVKS Elangovan defeated AIADMK leader K. S. Thenarasu who contested as the National Democratic Alliance candidate.

The margin of victory of EVKS Elangovan was something even the DMK front didn't expect. Elangovan won the seat by a margin of 66,233 votes and in the 2021 assembly elections, the DMK front candidate and Elengovan's son E. Thirumahan Everaa had won the seat by a margin of 8,904 votes.

The by-election was necessitated by the death of Thirumahan Everaa.

The margin of victory was around seven times more than the margin with which Thirumahan Everaa had won, and this has sent danger signals to the AIADMK, BJP camp.

BJP state president K. Annamalai tried to downplay the victory, saying it was due to sympathy factor but the under current in the polls were favouring the DMK front from the word go.

The AIADMK is in a bad shape in Tamil Nadu after the exit of three important leaders of the party -- V.K. Sasikala , the close aide of late Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa who later went on to become the party interim general secretary, her nephew TTV Dhinakaran and foremost among them former Chief Minister and party coordinator, O. Panneerselvam.

All these three leaders hail from the powerful Thevar community that wields considerable power in South Tamil Nadu. Moreover, open mud-slinging among the AIADMK leaders have reulted in the party getting a bad image among the voting populace.

Tamil Nadu politics since the early sixties has been under the terrific influence of Dravidian ideology and the only solace left for the BJP was its alliance with a Dravidian political party, the AIADMK.

However, there is a feel among the traditional vote bank of the AIADMK that BJP was trying to outsmart the Dravidian party and foist its 'Sanatana Dharma' politics on the state, which an average supporter of Dravidian ideology can never digest.

Another most important factor has been the positive image of Stalin who has fought all odds and maintained the positive growth of the state by introducing several new welfare measures.

The Makkale Thedi Maruthum scheme of emergency health care at doorsteps has won several hearts. Coupled with a positive growth and a welfare friendly atmosphere, even the opposition failed to properly bring in any negative traits of the government which has contributed immensely to the victory of EVKS Elangovan.

While politics is the art of the possible and the 2024 general elections are more than an year ahead, the by-poll results cannot be considered as a benchmark to predict to where the wind was blowing, indicators give a feel that DMK-led front is cruising along.

With 70th birthday bash of Stalin in Chennai attended by political bigwigs like Mallikarjun Kharge, Farooq Abdullah, Akhilesh Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav, there is a feeling that Stalin and DMK would be crucial in the days to come.

Tamil Nadu has 39 Lok Sabha seats and Puducherry one seat, and in the 2019 polls, the DMK front has won 38 seats from Tamil Nadu with the lone seat in Theni won by OPS' son, OP Ravindranathan. The lone seat from Puducherry was also won by the AIADMK.

The DMK led front is aiming for a 40/40 seats from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, to become a major political front in the post election scenario of 2024.

R. Padmanabhan, Director, Socio Economic Development Foundation, a think tank based out of Madurai told IANS: "A victory for EVKS Elangovan was on expected lines but win with 66,233 votes margin is something no political analyst predicted or expected. This is a victory for Stalin and the major loser is the BJP and its president Annamalai who think that they can get away with theatrics from a state like Tamil Nadu.

"The AIADMK has to make a revamp of its party structure and bury its differences if it has to make a mark. Modi magic is not likely to work in Tamil Nadu for the BJP unless its new president changes his style of operation. I strongly fear that BJP is losing the soil under its feet and has to comeback in Tamil Nadu in its traditional style of functioning.

"Right now odds are heavily weighed in favour of Stalin and DMK, and if the opposition does not rework its plans, the chances of a 40/40 for DMK front in 2024 polls is not unlikely."