Assembly election 2021: DMK almost swept entire Tamil Nadu; western region went with AIADMK

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA) almost swept every part of Tamil Nadu but its poor showing in Western region that has always backed the AIADMK prevented it from securing a landslide win in the April 6 Assembly elections.

As per the final tally, the DMK alliance secured two-thirds majority in the assembly by winning 159 seats, leaving 75 to the AIADMK-BJP combine. The DMK, which secured an impressive 37.70 per cent vote share, won in 133 seats, while its ally Congress emerged victorious in 18 of the 25 seats it contested. VCK, an influential Dalit party, won 4 seats, and CPI, and CPI-M two each.

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On the losing side, the AIADMK won 66 seats – its best performance so far in a losing election – PMK five, and BJP four. The AIADMK's vote share was 33.29 per cent.

DMK and its alliance partners pulled off a stunning performance Northern Tamil Nadu, including Chennai, comprising 80 seats by winning 62 of them, leaving just 18 and its ally PMK, which wields considerable influence among Vanniyars who are spread across the region. If one takes a close look at the numbers, AIADMK and PMK have won seats in constituencies where the sub-regional party is strong, which could mean that the 10.5 per cent internal reservation for Vanniyars within the 20 percent quota for MBCs worked only in pockets.

The DMK-Congress' best performance was in Chennai where they won all 16 constituencies at stake, decimating the AIADMK-BJP-PMK combine in the state capital. The victory was very sweet for the DMK as it wrested Royapuram, and Mylapore after a gap of 20 years. DMK alliance won all seats in many districts like like Tiruvallur, Tiruchirapalli, Kanchipuram, Karur, Perambalur, Ariyalur, and Ramanathapuram, while it swept many other districts leaving just one or two seats to the AIADMK combine.

While the DMK alliance was ahead of the AIADMK-BJP in every other region, it went behind the losing combine in Western Tamil Nadu comprising seven districts. The AIADMK alliance managed to pull off a surprise win in 33 constituencies – only nine less than the 2016 figure when the regional party contested alone under Jayalalithaa. The DMK alliance mustered just 17.

Besides the AIADMK's strong party structure and outgoing Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami's 'son-of-the-soil' plank, consolidation of Gounders seems to have worked in its favour.

In the Central region, which is already its bastion, the DMK won 40 of the 46 seats delivering a big blow to the AIADMK. It is in this region where the anti-BJP sentiments are high, and that could have further helped the DMK to trounce the AIADMK alliance. In Southern Tamil Nadu too, the alliance performed pretty well bagging two-thirds of the seats, by winning several seats that are considered strongholds of the AIADMK.

In Southern Tamil Nadu too, the alliance performed pretty well bagging 40 of the total 58 seats at stake, including winning several seats that are considered strongholds of the AIADMK.