Dravidian heavyweights may have been dismissive of actor-politician Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) in the run-up to the 2019 elections, but the results from both the Lok Sabha and Assembly bye-polls have shown that the fledgling party is a force to be reckoned with, at least in certain pockets. This despite not winning a single seat in the elections.
Making its poll debut just over a year after its launch, MNM chose to go it alone in the Lok Sabha Elections and the bye-polls, with Kamal Haasan firmly refusing to align with the DMK or the AIADMK, stating that the party would keep its hands clean. Projecting itself as an alternative to the two Dravidian parties, MNM fielded candidates in 36 out of the 38 Parliamentary constituencies and 19 out of the 22 bye-poll seats, with party chief Kamal opting to sit out the battle.
Speaking to reporters in Chennai on Friday, party chief Kamal said, "We didn't expect (the people) to embrace a 14-month-old baby; the adulation is better than our expectations. We have done what we could do in 14 months. If there had been more time, we would have done better. I don't think there is such a history for a new party. This is a big achievement,"
As far as the results go, MNM performed better in the Lok Sabha Elections than in the bye-polls. The party notched up a vote share of 3.72% in the Parliamentary elections. But the real picture of the newbie party’s performance can be gauged by the contest in each constituency.
Playing spoiler
In 11 out of the 36 parliamentary seats in Tamil Nadu, the MNM emerged third, with the party cutting into the votes of the DMK and the AIADMK. But it’s in urban constituencies that Kamal’s party has put up an impressive fight. Take for instance Chennai South, where MNM’s R Rangarajan polled 12.03% of the total votes cast. The party emerged second runner-up in Chennai North and Chennai Central as well, where the party fielded former Deputy Inspector General of Prisons AG Mourya and film producer Kameela Nasser, who is also the wife of popular actor Nasser.
So too, in Coimbatore. R Mahendran, the party candidate, received 1.45 lakh votes – the highest votes cast for any MNM candidate. In fact, in Coimbatore, the splitting of votes among MNM, AMMK and the Naam Tamiliar Katchi hurt BJP’s CP Radhakrishnan, the AIADMK alliance candidate. CPI(M)’s PR Natarajan emerged victorious, winning by a margin of 1.79 lakh votes.
In Madurai, where the party launch took place in February 2019, the party candidate M Alagar polled 8.37% of the total votes, coming in fourth just after the AMMK. Like in Coimbatore, here too, the AMMK and MNM have played spoiler for the AIADMK’s VR Raj Satyen, who lost by a margin of 1.39 lakh votes to the DMK-led alliance candidate S Venkatesan of the CPI(M).
Some of the other constituencies where the MNM emerged third include Erode, Nilgiris, Pollachi, Salem among others. It is now on record that MNM candidates, many of whom were virtually unknown to the public prior to the elections, performed better than AIADMK’s splinter party – the AMMK, led by Dhinakaran.
As far as bye-elections go, MNM placed third in two out of the 19 constituencies that it contested. In Perambur, MNM’s U Priyadarsini polled 10.86% of the total votes, pushing former MLA P Vetrivel, who contested on an AMMK ticket after he was disqualified by the AIADMK, to fifth place.
The party’s Hosur candidate P Jeyapal emerged third, although the contest was really between the DMK and the AIADMK. While in Thiruparankundram, MNM’s Sakthivel did trail behind the AMMK, coming fourth, he did manage to poll 5.58% votes.
Of course, despite its decent show in its first election, all candidates did end up losing their deposit.
With inputs from Anjana Shekar