For the first time since 1996, DMK leader MK Stalin will not be a legislator in the Tamil Nadu assembly. The nine-time legislator faced a humiliating defeat, losing the elections to VS Babu of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) in Kolathur constituency.
Babu secured 88,180 votes, while Stalin secured 72,988 votes.
While DMK was aware that it might not perform as well as in earlier elections in the Chennai region – considered a DMK stronghold – the party did not expect the first casualty to be the CM.
Stalin represented the Thousand Lights constituency four times from 1989 to 2011. In 2011, he contested from Kolathur constituency and won for the next three terms.
In 2021, Stalin got 1,05,522 votes, securing 61.4% of the votes cast against Adirajaram of AIADMK, who secured 20.5% of the votes cast with 35,138 votes.
In 2016, he secured 91,000 votes with 51.4% of the votes cast for him, and his opponent, JCD Prabhakar of AIADMK securing 32.5% of the votes.
Incidentally, Stalin’s opponent VS Babu is a former DMK man who was the legislator from the Purusalwakam constituency from 2006 to 2011. He later switched to AIADMK and then moved to TVK in February only this year. Babu did not contest any elections while in AIADMK and he was not considered a heavyweight, unlike TVK’s Aadhav Arjun or Bussy Anand, who are both contesting in Chennai region’s Villivakkam and T Nagar constituencies, respectively.
Other sitting CMs have also lost elections in Tamil Nadu. In 1952, PS Kumaraswami Raja of the Congress was defeated by an independent candidate Raju in Srivilliputhur.
In 1967, Bhaktavatsalam M, the sitting CM from Congress, was defeated by DMK candidate D Rajarathinam. In 1996, then chief minister Jayalalithaa was defeated by DMK’s EG Sugavanam.
