Red eclipses saffron in Coimbatore

Coimbatore: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has wrested control of Coimbatore Lok Sabha seat again, returning veteran leader P R Natarajan to the Lok Sabha for the second time after a gap of five years.
For the BJP, the result has come a huge disappointment as the saffron party was expecting a win here, thanks to its strong presence. C P Radhakrishnan, touted to have high chances of winning among all the five seats in the state where the BJP contested, had to contend being the runner-up. Bagging 5.7 lakh votes,
Natarajan not just won the elections but did so with a spectacular margin of about 1.75 lakh votes, a victory margin higher than what the winning candidates garnered in the 2009 and 2014 elections.
“People have given this mandate wanting a change in Tamil Nadu. This is a vote against religious politics and GST,” Natarajan told reporters emerging from the counting centre at Government College of Technology after receiving the certificate of victory.
While the newbie Makkal Needhi Maiam put up a good show with more than a lakh votes, Naam Tamizhar Katchi and AMMK were a distant fourth and fifth.
Natarajan had a jump start in round one of counting with a clear lead and the votes polled in favour steadily rose with every round. Radhakrishnan, who hoped for a turnaround, left the counting centre after it was clear by afternoon that it is going to be the CPM’s day. BJP leader Vanathi Srinivasan, who was scheduled to meet the press in the afternoon, cancelled the meet. Though there was gloom in the BJP camp momentarily, the solace came from the party’s astounding landslide across the country.
It was not easy victory for Natarajan too. Though there was disgruntlement among working class voters who depend on medium and small scale industries because of demonetisation and GST, the odds were stacked against Natarajan. In the last elections, CPR bagged about 3.8 lakh votes even when the BJP contested alone. So arithmetically, there was hope in the BJP that they can sail through easily once AIADMK votes also add up this time because of the alliance. But it has turned out that CPR has managed to add just 10,000-odd votes compared to his score in the 2014 elections.
However, the battle is half won for Natarajan. The challenge now would be to deliver his promises by getting the BJP at the Centre to agree to his demands for growth of the city.