TN Assembly polls | Tough contest in the southernmost district
The Hindu
DMK-Congress combine faces a challenge in three constituencies as the arithmetic favours their rival
When the AIADMK, under Jayalalithaa, won a second consecutive term in 2016, Kanniyakumari bucked the trend by electing the candidates of the DMK-Congress combine in all six Assembly constituencies in the district. In four segments, the BJP pushed the AIADMK to the third place. A simple arithmetic, taking into consideration the votes polled by the AIADMK and the BJP separately in 2016, should give an edge to the AIADMK-BJP alliance. However, the fact that the BJP’s candidate for the Kanniyakumari Lok Sabha seat, Pon. Radhakrishnan, was defeated by the Congress’s H. Vasanthakumar by a margin of over 2.5 lakh votes in 2019, though the AIADMK and the BJP faced the election together, tells a different story. “Simple arithmetic calculations will not work in politics. You should keep in mind that when the BJP and the AIADMK contested the polls separately, the AIADMK’s candidates were Christians in three constituencies. A substantial chunk of the Christian votes would have gone in their favour. Now, the votes of the Christians are unlikely to go to BJP and AIADMK candidates,” argued M. Ahamed Hussain, district executive member of the CPI(M). In 2016, AIADMK’s N. Thalavai Sundaram was defeated by DMK’s S. Austin by a margin of over 6,000 votes, while BJP candidate Meena Dev polled 24,638 votes. Former DMK Minister N. Suresh Rajan won the Nagercoil constituency, securing 67,369 votes. BJP veteran M.R. Gandhi came second with 46,413 votes, while the AIADMK’s Nanjil Murugesan polled 45,828 votes.More Related News