The elections are over, and with Jayalalithaa being sworn in on Monday as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, the state is looking ahead to five years of her rule.
Here is a district-wise, region-wise break-up of the winners, runners-up and third spot-holders of different constituencies, and a quick takeaway based on these numbers. (You can see it here.)(This is for 232 constituencies)
Every constituency in Tamil Nadu has been won by either the AIADMK and its allies or DMK and its allies. Only in 11 constituencies have parties other than AIADMK and DMK come in third place, in the rest, either of the two parties are runners-up. This goes to show how deeply polarised the politics of TN is.
Out of 232 seats, PMK has secured third position in 72 seats. (31% of third positions)
BJP has secured third position in 34 constituencies. (14.6% of third positions).
The PWF was pretty much a complete washout.
North (Thiruvallur, Chennai, Kancheepuram, Vellore, Thiruvannamalai, Villupuram)
In the districts which fall under North Tamil Nadu, DMK put up a pretty good show. In the districts of Chennai and Kancheepuram, the worst affected by the 2015 floods, there was a clear anti-AIADMK wave. You can read about it here. In Chennai, DMK won 10 of the 16 seats, and in Kancheepuram DMK won 9 of the 11 seats, which was a clear rejection of the AIADMK. In Villupuram too, DMK won 7 of the 11 seats. But in other districts, the AIADMK put up a decent show.
In the northern districts, DMK got 40 seats, while the AIADMK got 29.
In Chennai, BJP has made significant inroads by securing third in 10 constituencies out of 16 – including Anna Nagar, Chepauk-Triplicane, Egmore, T Nagar, Thousand Lights and Virugambakkam.
In Vellore district, PMK came next to DMK and AIADMK by securing 10 seats out of 13.
In Tiruvannamalai districts, PMK came third in 7 constituencies out of 8 seats. The lone seat was won by an independent candidate.
In the northern districts, including Kanchipuram, Vellore, Thiruvallur, Vilupuram, Tiruvannamalai, PMK came third in 39 seats out of a total of 69 seats allotted for the district.
The BJP, however, came third in 12 constituencies in the northern districts of Tamil Nadu.
Delta (Cuddalore, Perambalur, Ariyalur, Thanjavur, Thiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Tiruchi, Pudukottai)
In the Cauvery delta, which is considered a DMK stronghold, the party had tried hard to whip up anger against the AIADMK, but it wasn’t enough. In the Delta districts, the DMK put up a poor show, winning 19 constituencies, while AIADMK won 29.
Even in the flood-hit Cuddalore, AIADMK notched up 5 of the 9 seats. In Perambalur and Ariyalur, which are considered the bastions of DMK’s A Raja, the party lost all the 4 seats. DMK did better than AIADMK in Thanjavur and Thiruvarur districts, but Nagapattinam went almost entirely to the AIADMK, with the party winning 5 of the 6 seats. Tiruchy and Pudukottai districts saw a close contest between the two.
In the Delta region, PMK came third in 11 out of 45 seats and BJP came third in 2 seats.
West (Karur, Namakkal, Salem, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Erode, Tiruppur, Coimbatore, Nilgiris)
The West is where the AIADMK, to put it mildly, kicked the backside of the DMK.
Of all the constituencies in West TN, AIADMK won 47, DMK a paltry 13.
In Namakkal, AIADMK won 5 of the 6 seats.
In Salem, AIADMK won 10 of the 11 seats.
In Erode, AIADMK won all the 8 seats.
In Tiruppur, AIADMK won 6 and DMK won 2 seats.
In Coimbatore, AIADMK won 9 of the 10 seats.
In Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri, thanks to the presence of the PMK, the contest was much closer.
In Salem district, out of 11 seats, PMK came third in 10 seats and secured the second place in 1 seat.
In Coimbatore district, BJP came third in 6 seats out of the 10.
In the western belt of Tamil Nadu, PMK came third in 22 seats out of 60, while BJP came third in 10 seats.
West TN remains the undisputed bastion of the AIADMK, and perhaps will for a long time to come.
South (Dindigul, Theni, Madurai, Sivagangai, Ramanathapuram, Virudhunagar, Thoothukudi, Kanniyakumari, Tirunelveli)
The southern districts saw a close fight, and the DMK seems to have derived some benefit from its alliance with the Congress. But even so, AIADMK had a slight edge, and won 32 seats in the region, while DMK won 26.
In Dindigul, even if DMK honcho I Periyasamy won his own seat, the party won 4 of the 7 seats, not a great performance given IP’s perceived might.
Theni, where O Panneerselvam hails from, was a washout for DMK as AIADMK won all the 4 seats.
In the Thevar belt of Madurai, AIADMK held on to its vote bank despite dumping the All India Forward Bloc as its ally. AIADMK won 8 of the 10 seats in Madurai.
The one district which brought cheer for the DMK from the south was Kanyakumari, where AIADMK lost all 6 seats to the DMK combine. The importance of Congress as an ally and of the minority vote-bank can be clearly seen here.
It is important to note here however that the margin of victory is very low for AIADMK in some seats, which is a reason to be happy for the DMK.
The BJP, however, came second in 4 Kanyakumari constituencies including Nagarcoil, Colachel, Killiyur and Vilavancode, out of the 6 seats in the district. Interestingly, the BJP pushed AIADMK to third position in 3 seats, and to the fourth position in 1 seat.
Out of 58 seats in the southern district, BJP came third in 10 seats.