Fortunes fluctuated in nail biting Vellore vote count

The AIADMK hit by factions due to the demise of its charismatic leader J Jayalalithaa and bombarded by anti-Modi wave fought back in a nail-biting battle on Friday.

The vote bank of Two Leaves which was around 18 to 25 per cent resurged in Vellore securing 46.51 per cent and losing to DMK by 0.8 per cent votes in a seat considered to be a citadel for the DMK, thanks to its 30 per cent minority population. The AIADMK leaders Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and his Deputy O Panneerselvam in a joint statement thanked the Vellore voters for giving 46 per cent votes.

“The AIADMK party alliance candidate secured more rural votes, but as usual it was the urban votes which saved the high gambit game in favour of DMK. The mood was electric at AIADMK headquarters till noon, but we fought this poll bravely,” opined former AIADMK MLA K Srinivasan. If it was any other seat other than Vellore, the AIADMK with its strategic campaign would have trounced the DMK, he said.

By noon the AIADMK cadre distributed sweets and burst crackers but the early celebration was stopped within an hour as the DMK started picking up clear leads. Again, during the 18th and 19th rounds, AIADMK candidate Shanmugam minimised the margin, but by then the bout came to end by the 22nd round.

Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar said that the party has registered a decent vote share in the Vellore Lok Sabha election and credited Chief Minister for the victory. “The DMK has won the seat by bribing voters. The DMK won by a huge margin ranging up to three lakhs and beyond, but this time their tactics had not worked. They had spent around Rs 125 crore for winning the election by a meagre vote of 8,000 votes,” Jayakumar alleged.

“The DMK was proud of minorities support, but the results have shown that the Muslims have also voted for the AIADMK,” opined AIADMK spokesperson Avadi Kumar.