Congress' limp makes Stalin stumble too

CHENNAI: MK

Stalin

took his party close to victory, but fell short. Failure to put together a winnable alliance and giving 41 seats to an emaciated Congress and 19 to other partners proved fatal for DMK, which had readied itself for a revolving door entry into power.

In the 50 seats that DMK’s partners contested, the party’s cadres chose to take a back seat during the campaigning, the result being that the alliance was already starting with a disadvantage against AIADMK. The party also lost about 40 seats of its own due to problems in candidate selection and the rebellion that followed, said analysts.

Denying a seat to sitting Coonoor MLA and former minister K Ramachandran proved costly for the party in the Nilgiris as it alienated the Badaga community, which had always supported DMK. The outsider tag worked against some candidates in Kancheepuram, Nagapattinam and Salem too. Stalin may have increased the party’s tally from 23 to 89 and vote share from 22.39% in 2011 to 31.5%, in the process reducing AIADMK’s strength in the assembly from 202 to 133, but ultimately DMK will only, as Stalin told reporters on Thursday, “function in a responsible manner as a strong opposition”.

Many feel that nonagenarian M Karunanidhi should have projected Stalin as the chief ministerial candidate to attract the youth, who comprise 40% of the electorate. But that remains a “what-if” scenario that Chennai’s first family will think about for a long time.