In the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) won 16 Lok Sabha seats each by a margin of over 2 lakh votes.
The margin was much higher in Dindigul and Sirperumbudur, where the DMK candidates secured victory by a margin of over 5 lakh. In Dindigul, DMK’s Velusamy P won by a whopping margin of 5.3 lakh votes against PMK’s Jothimuthu. This was the highest winning margin recorded in Tamil Nadu. Velusamy received over 7.4 lakh votes (64.35 per cent) out of 11.55 lakh votes polled, while the PMK bagged 2.07 lakh (17.89 per cent), the Naam Tamilar Katchi got 4.74 per cent and Makkal Neethi Maiyam secured 3.34 percent votes.
PMK’s loss in Dindigul has impacted its alliance All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s (AIADMK’s) performance in the Lok Sabha elections, where it has won just one parliamentary seat. Dindigul, which had been a stronghold of AIADMK, was given to the PMK as a part of the alliance seat-sharing strategy for the Lok Sabha elections 2019.
DMK’s Baalu TR won by a margin of 5 lakh votes in Sriperumbudur against his PMK rival Vaithilingam A. Baalu won 7.9 lakh votes (56.3 per cent) out of the 14.06 lakh votes polled. His rival garnered 2.8 lakh votes (20.2 per cent) while the MNM secured 1.3 lakh votes (9.6 per cent).
In Chennai North and Perambur too, the DMK’s margin was overwhelming as it won in these two constituencies by a gap of over 4 lakh votes. In six parliamentary constituencies — Kallakurichi, Thanjavur, Thoothukudi, Arakkonam, Tiruvannamalai, Chennai Central — by a margin of over 3 lakh votes. In Thoothukkudi, Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, in her debut election, won by a margin of 3.4 lakh votes while Dayanidhi Maran won by a margin of 3 lakh votes in Chennai Central.
Overall, the party swept the Lok Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu as it won 23 of the 38 parliamentary seats in the state. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the party’s vote share in the state jumped to 45 per cent from 23.9 per cent in the 2014 polls.