As the Lok Sabha election results started trickling in on May 23, it was clear that the ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu was facing the worst-ever rout in its 47-year history. Yet, the mood at the party headquarters in Chennai was upbeat. Party workers were seen dancing and distributing sweets. They were possibly relieved that the AIADMK had managed to hold on to power in Tamil Nadu by winning nine of the 22 assembly seats where byelections were held.
“We have not been defeated. People have voted in such a way that the Amma government in the state continues,” said AIADMK spokesperson and Fisheries Minister D. Jayakumar. But the AIADMK’s vote share came down to 18.48 per cent from 44 per cent in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. The party managed to win just the Theni seat. Jayakumar said the drop was because the party fought the Lok Sabha polls as part of a coalition. In the assembly bypolls, which it contested on its own, the AIADMK secured 30.38 per cent votes.
“There is no vertical or horizontal split as discussed by the media and others,” said AIADMK spokesperson A.S. Maheswari. “The percentages are just numbers which will go up or down. But the AIADMK is intact under Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam.”
Several party members, from ordinary workers to office bearers, however, told THE WEEK that the AIADMK needed to introspect. Despite the show of unity put up by Palaniswami and Panneerselvam, infighting is rampant. Three days before the election results were announced, former minister N.D. Venkatachalam, who is the MLA from the Perundurai constituency in western Tamil Nadu, resigned from all party posts. He is said to be angry with Palaniswami for not inducting him into the cabinet.
Although the AIADMK won the Theni parliamentary seat, it lost from Andipatti and Periyakulam assembly segments which come under Theni. Andipatti was once represented by former chief ministers J. Jayalalithaa and M.G. Ramachandran. Periyakulam is Panneerselvam’s hometown. The party also lost from Edappadi, Palaniswami’s hometown.
Panneerselvam’s efforts to secure a Union cabinet berth for his son, O.P. Raveendranath Kumar, a first-time MP, have been met with resistance in the party. A senior minister from western Tamil Nadu pointed towards the growing discord between Panneerselvam and Palaniswami. “Except their rhyming initials, EPS and OPS have nothing in common. The AIADMK is being led by someone else,” he said.
T.T.V. Dhinakaran, who broke away from the AIADMK and floated the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam, polled 5.25 per cent votes, not an insignificant number for a one-year-old party, which does not even have a recognised symbol. “This is not a drubbing. Wait and see how things unfold. The AIADMK is still under the BJP. People will never accept this,” said Dhinakaran.
The BJP believes that the AIADMK did well in the assembly polls because of the alliance. BJP spokesperson Narayanan Thirupathy said the alliance did not work in the Lok Sabha polls because of the anti-Modi hate triggered by the opposition parties and the media. “This was not countered well by the AIADMK as it shared the same ideology like that of the DMK on issues such as Sterlite, NEET, Cauvery or Jallikattu,” he said.
The BJP is likely to demand a Rajya Sabha seat as six seats will fall vacant in July. The AIADMK will be able to get three candidates elected to the upper house. It has already promised one seat to the Pattali Makkal Katchi, which is likely to nominate former Union minister Anbumani Ramadoss. “The BJP will definitely demand one Rajya Sabha seat,” said an AIADMK minister. “And, we might not be able to refuse.”