A few years ago, before all the corruption shit hit the fan and ultimately helped destroy a 127 year old party, there were four formidable lady leaders who seemed all set for a long and distinguished innings on the roughest and toughest pitches. They were Sheila Dixit of Delhi, Mayawati of Uttar Pradesh, Mamata Banerjee of Bengal and Jayalalitha Jayaram of Tamil Nadu. They were still overshadowed by the pre-eminent Sonia Gandhi but it seemed like when the time was right (just around the corner) India will be led by an all-women “coalition of rivals.”
With the flames of modern Kurukshetras still burning in UP, Axom and now in Hyderabad, it appears that the only thing that stands between the Hindu Brotherhood and the downtrodden muslim minority of India (redefined as the enemy who must pack their bags and leave for Pakistan and Bangladesh) are dear Amma (Jayalalitha) and dear Akka (Mamata).
While all the 50 different shades of green forts crumbling before the might of the saffron bahini, the M-J duo have managed an amazing 34/42 and 37/39 sweep of their respective strongholds. The opposition communists in Bengal and the original dravidas in Tamil Nadu have been crushed to almost full extinction. And yes, the BJP alliance has picked up seats in the most alien and unfriendly territory (now NOT to be branded as anti-India, however, Kerala still qualifies).
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In an
unprecedented dismal show, M Karunanidhi-led DMK on Friday headed for a
rout in Tamil Nadu as its arch rival AIADMK was well set for a clean
sweep, surging ahead in 37 seats out of 39 seats.
The
spectacular performance by chief minister J Jayalalithaa’s party in the
hustings also decimated a deserted Congress and shattered what was
described as a “formidable” six-party alliance stitched by BJP to gain
foothold in this southern state.
The outcome of the election
was the worst ever for DMK after 1998 when it had won five seats when
the party-led United Front ended up with a tally of nine facing crushing
defeat at the hands of AIADMK-led NDA that scored 30 seats.
DMK bigwigs and 2G accused Dayanidhi Maran (Central Chennai) and A Raja
(Nilgiris-SC) and T R Baalu (Thanjavur) conceded enough ground to their
AIADMK rivals, virtually ruling out a comeback in the subsequent rounds
of counting.
The trends have come as a jolt to the four-decade
old party, which faced internal rumblings leading to the expulsion of
former Union minister and Karunanidhi’s elder son M K Alagiri, who had
openly campaigned against the party nominees.
DMK was aiming to
convert a perceived anti-incumbency into votes in the backdrop of power
cuts and drinking water shortage but it was ‘Amma’ all the way.
According to counting trends available for 37 seats at 12 noon, AIADMK
was leading in 35 seats including those perceived to be DMK turfs while
PMK and BJP were ahead in one constituency each.
Congress,
forced to face polls alone with no takers for an alliance, put up some
semblance of fight only in Kanyakumari where the fortunes fluctuated
between it and BJP before the saffron party shot into the lead.
PMK’s Anbumani Ramadoss was leading in Dharmapuri, bringing cheers to
BJP alliance partners. However, BJP’s allies — DMDK, PMK, MDMK and KDMK —
seemed to be swept away in the ‘Lady Wave,’ as an AIADMK leader put it,
although Jayalalithaa’s national ambitions seem to have been cut short
by BJP’s good show across the country.
………
regards