MADURAI: Despite hard work by cadre, AIADMK suffered a defeat in Madurai Lok Sabha Constituency. With the strength and support of the party cadre, they all toiled under harsh sun and garnered votes during campaigns for the AIADMK candidate P Saravanan, AIADMK MLA Sellur K Raju (Madurai West) said on Monday.

After paying tributes at the statue of K Kamaraj, former TN Chief Minister, at East Gate in Madurai on his 122nd birth anniversary, Raju asked the reporters whether there’s any shortcoming in the performance of the cadre, who were active throughout the poll campaign. Some people, who belong to certain communities, polled their votes in favour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party and the minorities cast their votes for Rahul Gandhi-led Congress. Finally, the AIADMK took a beating, he said.

The AIADMK suffered a defeat in many constituencies and the party stood second in some constituencies. To overcome this situation, AIADMK general secretary and Leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami chaired a meeting.

Further, Raju said it’s obvious that Madurai is always the stronghold of AIADMK, but the defeat caused the party cadre mental agony.

Not only in Madurai, the AIADMK’s vote share declined across Tamil Nadu. The minorities have still not accepted AIADMK. When asked about an audio clip, which was leaked recently and went viral on social media, about his conversation with his party worker in Madurai, Raju said he’s not aware of it.

He then said the law and order situation in Tamil Nadu has deteriorated as crime occurrences are on the rise.