As many as 27 Members of Parliament (MPs) of the DMK-led front, which bagged 37 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu, have secured a vote share of 50% and more in the recent elections, according to a study of the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) on vote share and the margin of victory of winners.

Of the 27 MPs, 19 belonged to the DMK; seven to the Congress and one to the Communist Party of India (CPI). The highest vote share was secured by P. Velusamy of the DMK in Dindigul with 64.4%, who defeated a PMK candidate. S. Jothimani of the Congress in Karur with a vote share of 63.1% and T.R. Paarivendhar of the DMK [he heads the IJK] in Perambalur with 62% followed him.

Of the 10 constituencies, which saw the DMK-led front’s candidates winning with a vote share of less than 50%, four each were in the southern — Madurai, Virudhunagar, Ramanathapuram and Tenkasi, all in the south; and Tiruppur, Coimbatore, Dharmapuri and Salem, all in the west. Chidambaram and Villupuram, both in the north, were the other two seats.

As for the break-up in terms of parties, four seats were won by the DMK; two by the CPI (Marxist) and one each by the Congress, the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, the CPI and the Indian Union Muslim League.

The AIADMK, which won in Theni, secured 43% vote share. The party’s coordinator and Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam’s son, O. P. Raveendranath Kumar, was the winner, who bagged the seat with a margin of victory of 6.5% over former TNCC president, E.V. K. S. Elangovan.

Margin of victory

The ADR’s study reveals that the DMK-led combine’s three winners bagged their seats with a single-digit margin of victory, the lowest being 0.3% in Chidambaram, where VCK’s chief Thol. Thirumavalavan won. The other two constituencies were Dharmapuri and Tiruppur.

Thirteen winners captured their seats with a margin ranging between 10% and 20%; 10 MPs, 21% and 30%; eight MPs, 31% and 40% and three, 41% and 50%. The highest margin of victory — 48.3% — was secured by Kalanidhi Veeraswamy of the DMK in North Chennai. His colleague, Mr. Velusamy of Dindigul followed him with 46.5% and former TNCC chief S. Thirunavukkarasar of Tiruchi with 43.8%.