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The J Jayalaithaa-led All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) has not only emerged the winner in the Lok Sabha election in Tamil Nadu but also the third largest party in Parliament after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress.
The AIADMK had won 32 of the 39 seats in the state and was leading in five till the time of going to press. This is a big turnaround from the nine seats it won in the 2009 Lok Sabha election. The party managed to grab 44.3 per cent of the votes, almost double the 22.91 per cent in 2009.
“This is a massive victory, historic, unprecedented and unparalleled for the party. We have achieved this victory on our own, without any partners,” said Jayalaithaa, who attributed the success to the welfare measures of her government over the past three years.
On whether the AIADMK would be part of the government at the Centre, she said, “There is no circumstance to be part of the new Union government. We will function as a responsible party. I wish the government well, the new prime minister well.”
The AIADMK’s main rival, scam-tainted Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), was washed out and the BJP made inroads by winning two seats – Kanyakumari (Pon Radhakrishnan of the BJP who led by 1,13,603 votes) and Dharmapuri (Anbumani Ramadoss, representing the BJP's partner, PMK).
During her 53-day campaign, Jayalalithaa not only came down heavily on the Centre's policies that impacted the economy and resulted in high inflation. She also stressed her government’s schemes that had helped people address these issues.
C Ponnaiyan, former finance minister of Tamil Nadu and an AIADMK leader, said the state government had been focusing on welfare schemes, including free rice and laptops, as well as working on developing infrastructure and industry. Other measures to address inflation include cheap canteen food, vegetable shops and pharmacies. Jayalalithaa had, during her campaign, principally directed against the United Progressive Alliance and the DMK, also dwelt upon the Tamil Nadu and Gujarat growth models. Tamil Nadu is third in terms of state GDP, while Gujarat is fifth, Tamil Nadu saw foreign direct investment of Rs 15,252 crore in 2012-13 against Rs 2,676 crore in Gujarat, she had said.
