The forecast warned of a tsunami. But in the end, it was, at best, a high tide. Fighting a long and bitter battle with its back against the wall, the UPA put up a creditable performance, winning as many as 28 of the total 40 seats in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. The UPA rode mainly on the surprise electoral success of the DMK that won 18 of the 21 seats it contested.

The extent of the victory hid the less-than-average results of the Congress candidates, especially the losses of Central ministers Mani Shankar Aiyar and EVKS Elangovan and TNCC president K.V. Thangkabalu. Even Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram, who won by over 1.62 lakh five years ago, had to toil hard for victory, scraping through with a slender margin of 3,354 that is yet to be formally announced.

Though almost all pre-poll and exit poll results spoke of a surge by the AIADMK, Jayalalithaa’s party won in just nine of the 23 seats it contested. Though this has given her party a foothold inside the Lok Sabha where it was unrepresented in the last five years, the results made sure Jayalalithaa wouldn’t play kingmaker at the Centre and topple the DMK state government—something she had hoped to do in one stroke.

The most dramatic development was, however, the collapse of the PMK—from a seemingly strong ground to drawing a blank. Since 1998, the PMK has been a part of the winning alliance at the Centre, either through electoral alignments or post-poll arrangements.

... contd.