T.T.V. Dhinakaran triggered a buzz when he tied up with the likes of actor-politician Vijayakant's DMDK and Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM for the Tamil Nadu polls.
While it was obvious that Dhinakaran and his Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) would not win the polls, Dhinakaran's tie-ups were keenly watched as he aimed to make a targeted impact.
Dhinakaran had told THE WEEK "We can win close to 40 seats". Moreover, the capacity of the AMMK and its allies—such as the AIMIM and DMDK—to be spoilers was feared by the DMK and AIADMK. The DMK had feared the AIMIM and the SDPI would eat into minority votes and, effectively, benefit the AIADMK alliance.
However, as counting of votes continued into Sunday noon, it was apparent that the AMMK's 'People's Front' had come a cropper.
The AIMIM contested three seats: Vaniyambadi, Sankarapuram and Krishnagiri. In Vaniyambadi, by 1.30pm, the AIMIM candidate, T.S. Vakeel Ahmed, had secured just 462 votes (1 per cent vote share).
In Krishnagiri, AIMIM candidate Ameenullah secured 62 votes (0.26 per cent share). In both Vaniyambadi and Krishnagiri, AIADMK candidates were in the lead. In Sankarapuram, the DMK candidate was leading. with AIMIM's Mujibur Rahiman securing just 87 votes (0.21 per cent vote share) at 1.30pm. The numbers show the AIMIM was unable to make a dent into the overall vote count of either major formation.
T.T.V. Dhinakaran was in a tough fight in Kovilpatti. Trends at 1.30pm showed Dhinakaran was trailing AIADMK strongman and minister Kadambur Raju by just 1,359 votes. Raju had won Kovilpatti in the last two elections. K.Srinivasan of the CPI(M), who was contesting as part of the DMK-led front, was in third place with 4,381 votes.
While the AMMK is not leading in any constituency, the party has apparently dented the chances of the AIADMK in at least 50 seats where margins are in the thousands of votes.
The DMDK of Vijayakant is staring at a washout, a far cry for a party that was the main opposition party after the 2011 election. If trends hold, this would be the DMDK's second consecutive washout, after its disastrous performance in 2016.
Premalatha Vijayakant, the wife of Vijayakant, was in third position in Vriddachalam, trailing the Congress candidate, who was leading by around 11,000 votes. In most of the other seats it contested, the DMDK is not even in third place.
