Jayalalithaa sweeps DMK out of power

Promises action on economy, poll promises; adopts strident tone on Sri Lanka

The J Jayalalithaa-led All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) swept the 13th Tamil Nadu legislative assembly elections, decimating the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. The party had won 132 seats till late tonight and was cruising towards a conclusive sweep. The halfway mark in the 234-member house is 117.

According to the Election Commission data, AIADMK’s final tally is expected to touch 151. The party contested 160 constituencies, giving the rest to allies. The AIADMK plus allies figure may touch 204.

Jayalalithaa, called Amma or Puratchi Thalaivi by her adherents, is set to become Chief Minister for the third time. Incumbent CM and DMK supremo M Karunanidhi gave his resignation today. Today’s results stunned political analysts and the media, most of whom predicted somewhat conservatively that the AIADMK-led alliance would get anywhere between 110 and120 seats. Instead, Jayalalithaa, who was hardly involved in active state politics for the past five years, swept to power. She had always maintained that her party would get over 150 seats. In the 2006 election, it could get only 64 seats.

The swing
The factors contributing to the DMK defeat, according to political observers, were corruption, mismanagement, electricity shortage, price rise and the shenanigans involving Karunanidhi’s family, which played an important role.

AIADMK’s main alliance partner, Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK), contesting for only the second time in an Assembly election, had won 27 constituencies till late evening. DMDK’s founder and president, K Vijayakanth who contested and won by 30,795 votes in Rishivandiyam, said: “We had declared right in the beginning that we would not ask for a share in the government.”

Chennai city, which had been a DMK stronghold, went to the Jayalalithaa alliance. Out of 16 seats 14 were bagged by AIADMK and its alliance partners. The Congress party’s state chief, K V Thangkabalu, who contested from Mylapore, lost to the AIADMK candidate.

Speaking to reporters at her residence here, Jayalalithaa said: “It was the will of people which brought us to the power. The voters wanted to vent anger against the DMK, which they showed while casting their votes.”

She said the priority for her government would be restoring the economy and law and order, and fulfiling the promises in her party’s poll manifesto in 18 months. “The state's economy is completely ruined and is beyond description. It is going to be a tough challenge, but we will accept it,” she said.

In an interview to Jaya TV, she said:“The state had been pushed into a debt trap with borrowing of Rs 1 lakh crore. The state treasury is empty and I have to start from scratch. Restructuring a house is an easier job but building a house is a tough task.”

The first hint of the challenge that lay for the central government was evident from her line on Sri Lanka. “We will ask the Indian Government to declare Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse as a war criminal,” she said, adding she would seek economic sanctions against Sri Lanka.