"Narrative against Centre weaned away people from NDA in TN"

Factors like a consistent campaign by the DMK and other outfits that the BJP-led Centre was against the interests of Tamil Nadu on several issues like NEET contributed to the rout of NDA alliance in the Lok Sabha polls in the state.

While the wave in favour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi worked wonders in the rest of the nation, Tamil Nadu ended up a stand-alone state like Kerala, keeping aloof from the national mood.

Ever since NEET became a reality by 2017, DMK had ratcheted up the rhetoric against both the Centre and state, saying the test would adversely impact the prospects of the poor and rural students and hurt social justice.

With opposition to NEET assuming emotive overtones, DMK assured scrapping the entrance exam, even as AIADMK also promised to get it exempted for Tamil Nadu in the run up to the elections.

Be it a relief package for cyclone Gaja from the Centre, the controversial Methane extraction initiative, the BJP-led NDA was the prime target. Modi was targeted for long for not visiting Tamil Nadu following the cyclone last year.

The refrain by DMK and other Dravidian outfits that BJP's "Hindutva politics" had no place in "secular" Tamil Nadu built by reformist leader Periyar E V Ramasamy also played a role.

Political analyst Sumanth C Raman concurred that a narrative against the Centre was discernible all along, which worked to an extent in weaning away the electorate from the NDA. There were several other factors as well that played a role, he added.

"Had T T V Dhinakaran been with the ruling party and if the AIADMK had not suffered a split, the scenario would have been entirely different," he said.

"Chidambaram and Ramanathapuram Lok Sabha constituencies would have fallen in the NDA's kitty if you add up the votes secured by the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK, led by Dhinakaran)," he told PTI.

In Ramanathapuram, while AIADMK's ally BJP candidate Nainar Nagenthran had bagged 3,42,821 votes, AMMK nominee V D N Anand polled 1,05,493 votes and the winning candidate K Navaskani's (IUML, DMK's ally) score was 4,69,943 votes.

In Chidambaram, the margin between the runner-up (AIADMK) and winner (VCK, DMK's ally) was a mere 3,219 votes with the AMMK nominee bagging 62,308 ballots.

Being in power for eight long years, something not seen in the past about 35 years, the anti-incumbency against the AIADMK government was a factor, he noted.

"The result is a reflection of all such factors,including the anti-incumbency against BJP-led Centre seen in Tamil Nadu," he said.

No wonder the AIADMK could garner a vote share of only about 18.48 per cent, a dramatic fall from 44.34 per cent in 2014, when it fought the polls alone and won 37 seats.

DMK, that recorded a 23.61 per cent vote share in 2014 (without present allies, including Congress and Left parties) albeit drawing a blank, surged ahead with a share of 32.76 per cent votes. The front led by it has bagged 37 of 38 seats.

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