Coimbatore : Contesting the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the Assembly by-polls with high expectations and a determination to upset the ruling AIADMK, the TTV Dhinakaran-led Amma Makkal Munnettra Kazhagam (AMMK) disastrously slumped into fifth position behind Paattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) in the Lok Sabha poll results, with a meagre vote share of 4.82 percent.
Coimbatore : Contesting the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the Assembly by-polls with high expectations and a determination to upset the ruling AIADMK, the TTV Dhinakaran-led Amma Makkal Munnettra Kazhagam (AMMK) disastrously slumped into fifth position behind Paattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) in the Lok Sabha poll results, with a meagre vote share of 4.82 percent.
The party which looked promising at the beginning to upset the State Government by splitting votes in the Assembly by-polls in 22 constituencies have been pushed aside by the DMK and AIADMK to the third position. Notably, except for a few constituencies, the party’s candidates who contested as independents in 37 constituencies are set to lose their deposits, with the leadership and charisma of their leader TTV Dhinakaran now being in question.
Out of the 37 contested seats, the party has managed to notch the third position only in less than 15 constituencies, whereas Kamal Hassan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) which also entered the fray under the debutant banner but with nil political experience was able to reach the third spot in more than 10 constituencies. In fact, the vote shares that MNM received in constituencies like Coimbatore are almost equal to that of the vote margin between the winner and the loser, meaning that MNM gave the runner up a run for their spot. This was what was expected from TTV Dhinakaran and his 37 MP candidates.
TTV’s political future was already under question when the Election Commission refused to give his party a common symbol. However, it was given a life line by the Supreme Court which offered him a common symbol considering the future of his political career. Despite all this, the party’s poor performance left his supporters sober and disappointed which could also augur ill for the party since the cadres could jump to the AIADMK camp at any given moment.
While the future of the AIADMK government was threatened by AMMK which promised to put up a good show in the Assembly by-polls, slumping to the third position in 20 constituencies and beyond in the remaining has not helped their goal of being pivotal in overthrowing the ruling Government nor toward a hung assembly. Reacting to the party’s defeat, its General Secretary, TTV Dhinakaran said that the party would resurrect like a Phoenix and perform well in the future.