Novices scored over veterans in Tirunelveli

By Syed Muthahar

TIRUNELVELI, MAY 15. DMK veterans have suffered humiliating defeat at the hands of AIADMK novices in the just concluded Assembly elections in Tirunelveli district.

Messrs Aladi Aruna (Alangulam), V. Karuppusamy Pandian (Tenkasi), A. L. Subramanian (Tirunelveli) and R. Avudayappan (Ambasamudram) are the senior DMK leaders who were drubbed.

Mr. Aladi Aruna has been contesting from Alangulam since 1962. This being his seventh attempt, he won the seat three times. His opponent was Mr. P. G. Rajendran, a young entrepreneur, a relatively new face even among the AIADMK circles. Mr. Aruna lost by a margin of 4,111 votes in a

seven-cornered fight.

Mr. V. Karuppusamy Pandian, DMK strongman, suffered a defeat for the fifth time in a row when he lost to Mr. K. Annamalai (AIADMK) in Tenkasi. Mr. Pandian, a blue-eyed boy of MGR, commenced his political career impressively, when he won the Alangulam seat in 1977 and the Palayamkottai seat in 1980. He has been in the race in all successive elections since then, but bit the dust in Palayamkottai (1984 and 91), Alangulam (1989) and Tirunelveli 1996. Mr. Pandian, contesting for the first time on DMK ticket, polled 53,662 votes in Tenkasi, compared to Mr. K. Annamalai (AIADMK), who got 62,454.

Mr. A. L. Subramanian, another DMK leader, contested from Tirunelveli for the seventh time, and had won three times. In a tough battle, Mr. Nainar Nagendran, a new comer, defeated him by a slender margin of 722 votes.

Mr. R. Avudayappan, secretary of the Tirunelveli east district unit of the DMK, unsuccessfully contested from Cheranmahadevi in 1989. However, he tasted success in Ambasamudram in the last elections. Now, in the constituency, he suffered a shocking defeat at the hands of Mr. Sakthivel Murugan, yet another new face, by a margin of 4,020 votes.

For Mr. R. Easwaran of TMC, the victory in Vasudevanallur (res) over Mr. S. Thangapandian of Puthiya Tamizhagam with a difference of 11,552 votes, was the fifth in a row. Mr. Easwaran was fielded in the constituency by Congress in 1980, and his first attempt was futile. However, he managed to romp home from the same constituency in all the five consecutive elections.

Mr. M. Appavu, the sitting MLA, who revolted against the TMC high command and contested from Radhapuram, has won the seat with a margin of 18,281 votes and also the credit of being the only Independent to emerge victorious in the State. His victory margin was the biggest in the district.

Of the 11 new MLAs, only Mr. Appavu (ind), Mr. Easwaran (TMC) and Mr. C. Karuppasamy (AIADMK) are the old faces. Messrs Nainar Nagendran (Tirunelveli), S. Manickaraj (Nanguneri), Sakthivel Murugan (Ambasamudram), Subbiah Pandian (Kadayanallur), P. G. Rajendran (Alangulam), P. H. Manoj Pandian (Cheranmahadevi) and K. Annamalai (Tenkasi), all of AIADMK and T. P. M. Mohideen Khan of DMK (Palayamkottai) are new faces.

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Section  : State Elections
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