Chennai, June 4 (IANS): In a shocking development, Tamil Nadu’s principal opposition party AIADMK has been pushed to third place at least on seven Lok Sabha seats, behind the BJP, in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The party reached a dismal third behind the BJP and NDA in Chennai South, Coimbatore, Dharmapuri, Madurai, Nilgiris, Ramanathapuram and Theni.
On at least three more seats, AIADMK has been pushed to fourth place behind BJP and NTK in Kanniyakumari, Tirunelveli, Vellore and Puducherry Union Territory.
The AIADMK contested 33 seats in Tamil Nadu out of the 39 seats and its allies DMDK and SDPI contested five seats and one seat respectively.
AIADMK ruled Tamil Nadu from 2011 to 2021 and in the 2021 Assembly election, the party won 66 seats with a vote share of 33.29 per cent votes.
The drubbing of the AIADMK is a major personal defeat for the party's General Secretary and former Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS).
The party leadership under him expelled senior leader and former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, O. Panneerselvam (OPS) who is highly popular in the southern regions of Tamil Nadu.
AIADMK also snapped ties with the BJP in September last year which led to a major erosion in opposition unity against the DMK.