Even a sudden downpour in Chennai did not dampen the spirits of the DMK supporters and party functionaries who gathered in large numbers at Anna Arivalayam on Tuesday evening to celebrate the victory of the party and its allies in Tamil Nadu.
The DMK-led alliance decimated the AIADMK and the BJP alliances in the Lok Sabha election with the score line reading 40-0.
After Chief Minister M.K. Stalin addressed the crowd, three members of the party’s women’s wing from Saidapet clicked photos against the backdrop of the decked-up DMK headquarters.
Dressed in a sari with the party colours and the rising sun symbol, R. Ponnuthaayi from Ramanathapuram district had come to the city to celebrate Kalaignar Karunanidhi’s birthday on June 3. She extended her stay to celebrate the DMK’s win. “If our thalaivar says he will win 40 seats, he will get 40,” she said.
K. Nagoor Pichai walked around the party office waving a flag with the INDIA bloc’s party symbols in Tamil Nadu. He had travelled from Goripalayam in Madurai to take part in the celebrations. “This election shows that there is no place for religious divide in Tamil Nadu,” said G. Senthil Kumar, an elated party member from Kancheepuram.
At Kamalalayam in T. Nagar, the BJP State headquarters, party cadre celebrated the party’s victory at the Centre. Cadre were seen dancing to drumbeats, as crackers went off and laddus were distributed to passers-by.
Asked about why they were celebrating despite the party’s defeat in Tamil Nadu, a leader said it was for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s third term. There would be a bigger celebration during the swearing-in ceremony, he added.
On the other side
From morning, a sizeable number of cadre gathered at the AIADMK party headquarters in Royapettah to know the results coming from across the State. Soon, disappointment swept the cadre as it became evident that the party may not win even a single Lok Sabha seat in the State. A few second-line leaders were deeply discussing the reasons for the losses in traditional bastions.
At dusk, the cadre started leaving by quipping that it was the Parliamentary election and not the Assembly poll. Adhi Rajaram, an organising secretary, said looking at the voting pattern, it was evident that educated people both in urban and rural areas, voted differently as it was the Lok Sabha election.
“When the party founder and former Chief Minister MGR was alive, our party won only two seats in the Parliamentary election in 1980, but we won the next Assembly election. We got only four seats in the Assembly election in 1996, but our leader Jayalalithaa returned to power thrice after that. We will make a strong comeback,” he added.
