AIADMK wins 14 seats; leads in 23 others in TN

Continuing its winning march, the ruling AIADMK today bagged 14 Lok Sabha seats and led comfortably in 23 others, while BJP and its ally PMK were ahead in a seat each in Tamil Nadu, where counting of votes polled for 39 seats was progressing.
In an endorsement of the AIADMK programmes and polices, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa-led Dravidian outfit handed out a humiliating defeat to political bete-noire DMK and its former ally Congress besides trouncing the much touted grand alliance of six parties led by BJP.
AIADMK candidates triumphed in constituencies of Nilgiris (SC), Chidambaram (SC), Kallakurichi, Tenkasi (SC), Thanjavur, Karur, Vellore, Tirunelveli, Tuticorin, Tiruchi, Nagapattinam (SC), Kancheepuram (SC), Tiruppur and Arakkonam.

Barring BJP (leading in Kanyakumari) and PMK (Dharmapuri), other NDA partners including MDMK of Vaiko and DMDK of actor-turned politician Vijaykanth failed to make a mark.
The stellar performance by AIADMK which virutally made a clean sweep leaving far behind its rivals was overshadowed by a landslide victory of BJP and its allies, as the Jayalalithaa outfit could not realise its aspiration of playing a key role in Government formation at Delhi.
Masking her disappointment, Jayalalithaa declared that her call for electorate to ensure victory in majority of seats was not stemmed from desire for power, but to strengthen hands of people of her state and to protect its interest.

As the poll trends projected a massive win for BJP and its allies to form government without support of regional outfits, Jayalalithaa in quick response admitted that "there is no such situation" obviously implying no role for her party.

M Karunanidhi-led DMK sufferred its worst ever defeat in Tamil Nadu not winning or leading in a single seat. Politically ostracised Congress to met a similar fate, a repeat of its dismal show in 1998 when too it lost all 39 seats contesting alone.
The peoples' verdict also put a question mark on the bi-polar political culture hitherto prevailed in the state by heavily gravitating around AIADMK.

Jayalalitha outdone her party's superb tally of 30 achieved
in 1998 when she fought the general election as part of NDA.
For the first time in about two decades, DMK has been decimated in the state compounding its worries as the Karunanidhi party had already been bruised by the sibling war between his sons-- M K Alagiri and M K Stalin.
With assembly elections just two years away, Jayalalithaa is sitting pretty with today's performance providing immense confidence for the next round of electoral battle.
Congratulatory messages poured from almost all parties to Modi and BJP including from DMK, AIADMK and allies DMDK and MDMK among others.