(Top) Jayalalithaa, Stalin: Change of fate

Kancheepuram, May 16: Lone-ranger Jayalalithaa’s ADMK has braved the combined might of seven parties to retain the two seats where bypolls have been held.

The chief minister also belied predictions that she would face a Brahmin backlash in Kancheepuram ? where one of the bypolls was held ? for the arrest of Jayendra Saraswati in a murder case. Brahmins, numbering nearly 22,000, account for around 15 per cent of the voters in the seat.

The results declared this afternoon are being seen as a huge boost to Jayalalithaa’s party ahead of the Assembly polls slated early next year and a setback for M.K. Stalin, DMK leader M. Karunanidhi’s son, who led the Opposition party’s campaign.

In Kancheepuram, the ADMK’s Mythili Thirunavukkarasu beat her DMK rival by 17,548 votes while in Gummidipoondi, Vijayakumar finished ahead of Venkatachalapathy by a margin of 27,162.

But Kancheepuram saw the ADMK victory margin depleted by 6,000 votes as compared to the 2001 Assembly polls. In Gummidipoondi, it has gone up by 27,000.

The ADMK crushed the vote banks of seven Opposition parties ? the DMK, Congress, PMK, MDMK, CPI, CPM and the Indian Union Muslim League. The Dalit Panthers of India drew a blank while the BJP stayed out of the bypolls.

The record voter turnout in the two constituencies ? close to 70 per cent in each ? and the big crowd of women on May 14 had raised the ADMK’s hopes. In the past, a huge polling percentage ? of 65 per cent and above ? and an impressive turnout of women have translated into good news for Jayalalithaa’s party. The chief minister’s pro-woman and pro-poor image has helped lift the party’s fortunes, her party leaders said.

The ADMK also had the advantage of being the ruling party. Nearly 15 ministers were deployed for election work, which was topped with Jayalalithaa’s campaign for nearly a week.

A source close to Karunanidhi’s party said the Democratic Progressive Alliance defeat bares “a lack of coordination among the DMK and its allies, notably the PMK which boasted of a strong rural base” in the two seats.

The DMK’s attempts to cash in on its rival’s distribution of money to woo voters also fell flat.

Karunanidhi ? his party could only dish out Rs 50 as against the Rs 100-150 being given out by the ADMK ? had cautioned people against “money power” at the only election meeting he addressed. He said the “huge piles of money like a temple gopuram” had added to the “haughtiness” of the ADMK. But the electorate seems to have ignored his counsel.

Kancheepuram erupted in joy today. While ADMK workers burst crackers, the bigwigs dashed to Chennai to meet the party high command.

A beaming Jayalalithaa profusely thanked voters in Chennai and said the results have shown the “people are with us”.