Minister for Information Kadambur C. Raju, who was elected from Kovilpatti Assembly segment in 2011 and 2016 on the AIADMK ticket, has realised his dream of a ‘hat-trick’ win by defeating Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) general secretary T.T.V. Dhinakaran by a margin of 12,403 votes in 2021.
Interestingly, AMMK, which was predicted to spoil AIADMK’s fortunes in southern districts, has miserably failed in its mission with Dhinakaran himself losing the electoral battle in an embarrassing fashion.
Another interesting feature is the debacle of Puthiya Thamizhagam founder K. Krishnasamy, who has been pushed to the fourth spot in Ottapidaaram (Reserved) segment. He was elected from the seat in 1996 and 2011. Sitting DMK MLA M.C. Shanmugaiah has retained the seat defeating AIADMK’s P. Mohan by a margin of 8,510 votes. While Mr. Shanmugaiah polled 73,110 votes, Dr. Krishnasamy bagged 6,544 votes to forfeit his deposit.
DMK candidate for Tiruchendur ‘Anita’ R. Radhakrishnan, who has been elected from the segment since 2001, defeated AIADMK’s M. Radhakrishnan by a margin of 25,263 votes. After being elected to the Assembly for the first time, Mr. ‘Anita’ Radhakrishnan left AIADMK to join DMK and was fielded in the by-poll by his new party. And he went on to win the seat.
Former AIADMK MLA of Vilaathikulam A. Markandeyan, who defected to the DMK recently and got the ticket, defeated AIADMK candidate and sitting MLA P. Chinnappan by a margin of 38,549 votes.
Former Minister and sitting MLA of Srivaikundam S.P. Shanmuganathan lost the election to Oorvasi S. Amirtharaj, Congress candidate and son of former Srivaikundam MLA Oorvasi Selvaraj, who defeated Mr. Shanmuganathan in the 2006 Assembly poll. With this defeat with margin of 17,372 votes, Mr. Shanmuganathan has created the dubious record of losing to both father and son.
In Thoothukudi, DMK’s Geetha Jeevan defeated S.D.R. Vijayaseelan of Tamil Maanila Congress, who contested the election on the AIADMK ticket, by a margin of 50,310 votes. Intra-party feud in the ruling party and non-cooperation with the candidate led to the victory of Ms. Geetha
The ruling party, which had three MLAs in the outgoing Assembly, lost five segments to the DMK and its allies.