Live South results: BJP bags Karnataka, but it's 'Jaya Hey' in Tamil Nadu

Mumbai: Tamil Nadu stood up to the saffron wave sweeping the South, delivering a decisive mandate for Chief Minister and AIADMK boss J Jayalalithaa.

Once it was clear that she way way ahead, Jayalalithaa described her party's stellar performance in the elections as "unprecedented and historic". She also wished the "new government and new Prime Minister well".

My congratulations to Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalitha ji on her landslide victory.

— Rajinikanth (@superstarrajini) May 16, 2014

BJP was clearly ahead in both Karnataka and Kerala. The Kerala lead comes as a surprise considering the party has not won a single Lok Sabha seat in the state.

Interacting with reporters Jayalalithaa spoke like a seasoned politician who has seen it all. "I wish the new government well. I wish the new Prime Minister well. And I hope that the new government that will be formed at the Centre will be friendly towards Tamil Nadu," she said.

She added that the AIADMK, which emerged as the third largest party in the Lok Sabha after the BJP and Congress, would “function as a responsible political party.” In not attaching an opposition tag to that remark, the party supremo has made a very subtle statement on where she stands on the BJP’s massive victory.

Heading a state that has often slated the Congress-led UPA for being most unfriendly to the state, particularly on the Cauvery water and power issues, Ms Jayalalithaa has placed her state as a friendly power in a federal set-up after the previous avatar had been most inimical to her presence in the last three years. Her fault may have been to trounce her main adversary DMK, which was an UPA partner in 2011 when Jaya turned the tables with an emphatic victory in which her party and its then allies DMDK, CPI(M) and CPI took close to 200 seats in the 235-seat unicameral legislature.

Of a possible alliance role in the new dispensation at the Centre, she said in a most pragmatic way that "There is no such situation now." She has made it clear that while she is not officially an ally, she is a friend in the national polity who expects a reciprocal touch of friendship from the capital. That she is making preparations already for her re-election in 2016 is to be seen in the way she has treated her euphoric victory as well as the fact that there is now no scope for a true national role for her.

Jaya says she was not chasing power at Centre

"I wish the new government well. I wish the new Prime Minister well. And I hope that the new government that will be formed at the Centre will be friendly towards Tamil Nadu," she said.

AIADMK's G Hari defeats N R Elango of DMK by 2,40,766 votes in Arakkonam constituency. AIADMK's G Hari defeats N R Elango of DMK by 2,40,766 votes in Arakkonam constituency.

After two decades, DMK, Congress have no MPs from Tamil Nadu

For the first time after the 1991Lok Sabha elections, the DMK will not have its representatives in the Lower House and similarly Congress will have no nominees from Tamil Nadu after 1998.

The DMK has been part of almost all the regimes at the Centre starting from Deve Gowda's Ministry of 1996 barring a brief hiatus during 1998-99 when the AIADMK was part of the BJP-led NDA.

The party suffered worst defeats in 1989 and 1991 Lok Sabha elections and could not manage to win even a single seat. From 1962 to 1984, the DMK has always had representatives in the Lok Sabha though the number varied.

If it won 25 seats in the 1967 polls heading a front of several parties including Rajaji's Swatanthra Party, it had its low in 1984 when it could win only two seats. Now, after

1991, the DMK has failed to win even a single seat.

Ironically, dismissing both "Modi and Lady (referring to Chief Minister Jayalalithaa) wave," DMK leader Statlin had said it was his "daddy's wave," during electioneering in Tamil Nadu.

Similarly, the Congress, which managed to win three seats even during a wave against it in 1967, could not win a single seat in 2014 polls like the 1996 and 1998 Parliamentary elections.

Also, the CPI and CPI (M) will have no representative from Tamil Nadu after a long time. In 1999, CPI did not win a seat and CPI (M) could not win any seat in 1996. In 1991, both the Left parties could not win any seat. In 1998, while CPI managed to win a seat, CPI-M drew a blank.

The unprecedented loss suffered by DMK also partially fulfilled the vow of its expelled leader M K Alagiri, who campaigned against the party nominees in southern districts asking his supporters to ensure that the DMK finished third.

Alagiri, DMK's South Zone Organising Secretary and elder son of Karunanidhi, was expelled by the party just ahead of the announcement of the polls after he questioned selection of party candidates and holding his younger brother and Treasurer M K Stalin responsible for it.

Eager to bounce back after the drubbing in 2011 assembly polls, DMK put all its might in the electioneering but failed to impress the electorate, who chose to gave a "thumbs up" for Jayalalithaa-led party.

Smearing salt on the wounds of the DMK, the electorate refused to buy the spiking campaign plank it unleashed against Jayalalithaa Government accusing it of failure to perform on various fronts particularly on power supply.

DMK's Dalit face and tainted former Minister Raja (Nilgiris), Dayanidhi Maran involved inthe Aircel-Maxis deal contested from Central Chennai, former Union Minister T R

Baalu (Thanjavur), and former union minister S Jagathrakshakan (Sriperumbudur) were among those who bit the dust.

While A Raja spent more than a year in jail in the 2G spectrum scam, Dayanidhi Maran had to quit the Textiles Ministry after allegations of bribery were levelled against him in the Aircel-Maxis deal.

AIADMK leads in Tamil Nadu, DMK loses:

Putting up a brave face in the wake of total annihilation of his party, DMK chief M Karunanidhi on Friday vowed to continue to work to win people's confidence as he greeted BJP and its Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on its "big win".

"I extend my greetings and that of DMK to BJP and Narendra Modi, who is going to take over as the Prime Minister, for the big win across India," he said in a statement.

The 89-year-old patriarch's response came amid strong indication that his party was headed towards an unprecedented rout in its Lok Sabha poll performance.

He said he would take the loss in his stride, in line with party founder CN Annadurai's principles of "not going berserk during win or getting bogged down due to loss."

"DMK accepts people's verdict with a bowed head. We have faced similar losses and bigger triumphs than other parties," he said, adding the party will strive to work towards winning the confidence of people.

AIADMK candidate M Vasanthi defeats K Krishnasamy of Puthiya Tamizhagam in Tenkasi.

With AIADMK set for a clean sweep, surging ahead in 35 seats of 39 seats, DMK has witnessed its worst Parliamentary poll performance although it faced a near rout in the 1991 Assembly elections when AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa nearly won all the seats against the backdrop of the assassination of late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

According to the latest trends, Dayanidhi Maran (DMK) is trailing in Central Chennai behind his AIADMK competitor S R Vijayakumar by around 300 votes. BJP's state unit president Pon Radhakrishnan is leading in Kanyakumari. In Puducherry, Congress candidate V Narayanasamy is leading by over 3,600 votes over his nearest AIADMK rival M G Omalingam.

BJP's candidates, including party' state unit president Pon. Radhakrishnan (Kanyakumari), and MDMK's Vaiko from Virudhunagar, were way behind their AIADMK and Congress rivals. Congress leader P Chidambaram's son Karti lost in his father's bastion Sivaganga where AIADMK established a substantial lead.

AIADMK's K R P Prabakaran defeats DMK's Devadasa Sundaram by a margin of 1,26,099 votes in Tirunelveli.

DMK leader A Raja loses electoral battle in Tamil Nadu

Nilgiris: DMK leader A Raja, prime accused in the 2G scam has failed in his bid to secure a second successive term from this reserved constituency, with the ruling AIADMK romping home with a thumping margin.

The former telecom minister, who had expressed confidence of retaining the seat claiming that 2G scam was a non-issue with his electorate, was defeated by C Gopalakrishnan by a huge margin of 1,04,090 votes.

Incidentally, it was not a candidate but the option called None of the Above (NOTA) which turned out to be the third most preferred choice of the electorate at the end of the counting of votes as 46,559 had exercised this option.

BJP was not represented in the seat after the nomination of its candidate S Gurumurthy was rejected during scrutiny on grounds of delayed filing of mandatory Form 2B, culminating in his suspension from the party.

Nandan Nilekani loses Aadhar in Bengaluru South

One of the richest candidate and Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani had a miserable defeat with five-time Member of Parliament H. Ananath Kumar. Mr. Nilekani had declared Rs. 7,710 crore asset and sowed the seed of clean politics and serve public with his experience on tech-savvy.

He was the one who actually got ideas from public to become a pro-active politician. He believed in development from the grass roots and had mega plans for the development of Benglauru and to transform Bengaluru into a better city to live in.

It appears that Modi wave has swept away hopes of Nilekani’s to get into active politics. Even his efforts in getting every body a unique identity number through Aadhar programme did make him feel unique.

"I had been to counting centre few minutes ago. I concede defeat and congratulate Ananth Kumar for his performance in this poll," Nilekani, the face of UPA's flagship Aadhar programme, told PTI.

To a question, he said he would remain in politics, adding, "I will continue to work more for the city and the Congress party. I am going to continue working actively for Bengaluru and for the party," Nilekani said, adding that he had no regrets and had a great time."

Asked what went wrong for him, Nilekani said "I'm happy with the campaign we have run. I'm happy with the way my supporters and Congress leaders worked along with me in this campaign. We have done our best and I remain happy with my decision to stand for election."

In response to a question on Modi wave, he said "It is for people to decide."

Beating the Congress' upsurge that was witnessed in Karnataka exactly a year ago, the BJP in Karnataka got lead in 16 of the 28 parliamentary seats. The trends available around 11.20 pm, suggest that the ruling Congress is ahead in 10 and the Janata Dal (S) is ahead in Hassan and Mandya constituencies.

Former chief minister DV Sadananda Gowda, Shobha Karndlaje, Nalinkumar Kateel, Ananthkumar Hegde have won their seats. Unconfirmed reports suggested BJP has won four seats till now. Former chief minister, DV Sadananda Gowda, party candidates, Nalin Kumar Kateel, Shobha Karandlaje won Dakshina Kannada and Udupi-Chikmagalur constituencies. In Uttara Kannada, former KPCC president, RV Deshpande's son, Prashanth conceded defeat to BJP's Ananthkumar Hegde.

Congress' R Dhruvanarayana defeats A R Krishna Murthy of BJP; wins Chamarajanagar seat by 1,41,182 votes. Columnist Prathap Simha of BJP defeats Congress' A H Vishwanath to win Mysore seat by 31,608 votes.

Former chief minister Sadananda Gowda emerges victorious

Congress party's 'primary' experiment has failed to yield any result at Bengaluru North Loksabha constituency which is known as the Vokkaliga strong belt with former CM and BJP candidate D. V. Sadananda Gowda defeating the Congress candidate C Narayanaswamy.

Although Mr. Narayanaswamy is considered Mr. clean even among his political rivals he had to accept defeat with a margin of over 2 lakh votes. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah took Bengaluru North constituency prestigiously and pumped in money and support for winning North constituency. But his dreams just vanished.

Mr. Narayanaswamy a law graduate started his political career spanning for several decades through panchayat raj. Mr. Swamy who was considered as the close associate of JDS supremo Mr. HD Devegowda quit party in 2013 following Mr. Gowda's decision to have tactical understanding with BJP in Bengaluru Rural loksabha by election.

Before becoming a minister in Mr. HD Devegowda's cabinet, Mr. Swamy held several polios including Zilla Panchayat president, Vice President, Taluk Development Board etc.

Mr. Swamy who was present at the counting centre left the venue once his defeat confirmed as his rival Mr. Gowda's lead crossed one lakh mark.

Rahul Gandhi's hand picked candidate loses in Benglauru Central

In a big set back for Congress youth wing state president and close aide of Mr. Rahul Gandhi, Mr. Rizwan Arshad has lost in Bengaluru central loksabha constituency. Mr. Arshad who was hand picked by Mr. Gandhi several senior leaders including former union railway minister.

Congress senior leader C. K. Jafar Sherieff was denied ticket at Bengaluru Central and his threat to resign form the party and joining JD(S) seems to have created damage to the party’s image. Mr. Arshad lost to BJP candidate P. C. Mohan who emerged victorious for the second time in the Loksabha.

However, the trend was very nail-biting and interesting with tuff competition. Result was fluctuating whole day with both the leader securing almost same number of votes in all the rounds. But finally Mr. PC Mohan had last laugh by defeating Mr. Arshad over 32,000 votes.

Mr. PC Mohan who is OBC face of BJP in the Bengaluru city is hailing from powerful Balija community. He has represented Chickpet assembly constituency two times. Mr. Mohan had unsuccessfully contested in the previous assembly elections. On both the occasions he was defeated by Dinesh Gundurao.

AAP fails to make a mark in Bengaluru

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) which gave a hope of fighting against corruption and cleansing today’s politics has failed to mark in Bengaluru.

Ironically, Bengaluru is one of the metros which gave thumping support to AAP with many techies either taking sabbatical or giving up their respectable job to join hands for a cause. That apart a large number of people turned up for dinner meet with AAP founder Arvind Kejriwal in the city.

Unfortunately, the none of the three candidates including V. Balakrishnan form Bengaluru Central constituency lost to BJP’s candidate P. C. Mohan.

Bengaluru was also one of the leading supporters for the India Against Corruption (IAC) initiative where Mr. Kejriwal was part of it.

It appears that the AAP embarked into the Indian politics in a hurry and without much home work or ground work. It’s time for AAP to wear a thinking cap and strategise in fielding candidates for the upcoming BBMP polls and next assembly polls in 2018 to win the heats of voters.

Kerala: UDF maintains edge in Kerala, LDF betters position Kerala, Shashi Tharoor wins in Thiruvananthapuram

In a relief to chief minister Oommen Chandy, the ruling Congress-led UDF maintained edge over the CPI (M)-led LDF winning 12 of the 20 seats in Kerala but failed to match its 2009 tally of 16.

BJP, which made spectacular gains in the northern and western regions of the country, once again failed to open account in this southern state.

The Congress won eight seats against 13 in 2009 while its allies IUML bagged two and Kerala Congress (M) and RSP one each. LDF, which won four seats last time, doubled its tally by winning eight seats.

The result of Vatakara, where Union Minister Mullapally Ramachandran registered a margin of over 3000 votes against CPI (M) rival A N Shamseer, is yet to be declared due to technical reasons.

The LDF wrested from Congress Kannur, Thrissur, Chalakkudi, and Idukki and also retained all the four seats it bagged in 2009. BJP leader O Rajagopal was defeated by union minister Shashi Tharoor of the Congress by a margin of 15,470 votes in Thiruvananthapuram where leads fluctuated.

Besides Tharoor, Union Ministers from the state who romped home are K V Thomas (Ernakulam), K C Venugopal (Alappuzha), Kodikunnil Suresh (Mavelikkara) and IUML leader E Ahamed (Malappuram).

CPI (M) suffered a jolt as the party's politburo member and former education Minister M A Baby lost to N K Premachandran of the RSP in Kollam in a keenly fought contest.

Causing fissures in the Left block,the RSP had crossed over to the UDF on the eve of the elections after falling out with the CPI(M) over denial of Kollam seat.

Prominent UDF losers include Congress spokesperson P C Chacko, who was humbled by film actor Innocent at Chalakkudi. In Palakkad, SJD supremo and former union minister M P Veerendra Kumar was defeated by CPI-M's sitting MP M B Rajesh by a margin of over 1,05300 votes.

Other UDF winners: Jose K Mani (Kerala Congress-M) Kottayam, Anto Antony (Congress) Pathanamthitta, M I Shanavas (Congress) Wayanad, E T Mohammed Basheer (League) Ponnani and M K Raghavan (Congress) Kozhikode.

LDF winners: M B Rajesh (CPM-Palakkad), P K Biju (CPM-Alathur), A Sampath (CPM-Attingal), C N Jayadevan (CPI-Thrissur), P Karunakaran (CPM- Kasargod) and Joyce George of High-Range Samrakshana Samiti and Ms P K Sreemathi (CPM) and actor Innocent (CPM Ind) in Chalakudy.

UDF bucks anti-Congress trend in Kerala, LDF betters position

Bucking the anti-Congresstrend witnessed in the rest of the country, the ruling Congress-led UDF maintained edge over the LDF spearheaded by the CPI-M, winning 12 of the 20 seats albeit failing to match its 2009 tally of 16.

In a victory that came as a relief to Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, the Congress won eight seats against 13 in 2009 while its allies IUML bagged two and Kerala Congress (M) and RSP one each.

LDF, which won four seats last time, doubled its tally by winning eight seats but suffered a glaring loss in the defeat of CPI (M) polit bureau member M A Baby to RSP's N K Premachandran in Kollam.

In solace to the LDF, the coalition wrested from Congress Kannur, Thrissur, Chalakkudi, and Idukki and also retained all the four seats it bagged in 2009.

BJP once again failed to open account with the defeat of its senior leader O Rajagopal at the hands of Shashi Tharoor of the Congress by a margin of 15,470 votes in Thiruvananthapuram where leads fluctuated.

Besides Tharoor, Union Ministers from the state who romped home and retained their seats are K V Thomas (Ernakulam), K C Venugopal (Alappuzha), Kodikunnil Suresh (Mavelikkara) and IUML leader E Ahamed (Malappuram) and Mullapally Ramachandran (Vatkara).

Prominent UDF losers include Congress spokesperson P C Chacko, who was humbled by film actor Innocent at Chalakkudi.

In Palakkad SJD supremo and former union minister M P Veerendrakumar was defeated by CPI-M's sitting MP M B Rajesh by a margin of over 1,05300 votes.

Reacting to the outcome, Chandy said the UDF's victory was an endorsement of people-friendly policies of the government and exuded confidence that he would be able to work in co-operation with the BJP government at the Centre without compromising on the party's ideals.

CPI (M) central committee member Thomas Isaac said the LDF had expected better results as it had expected to win upto 12 seats.

Only 1 woman candidate makes it LS from Kerala

CPI (M) politburo member and former Kerala minister P K Sreemathi, who won from Kannur, is the lone woman candidate to have successfully made it to the Lok Sabha from Kerala.

This year, for the first time 27 women contestants, including two each from Congress, CPI (M) and BJP, were testing electoral waters.

Congress' Bindu Krishna (Attingal) and K A Sheeba (Alathur); CPI(M)'s P K Sainaba (Malappuram) and BJP's Shobha Surendran (Palakkad) and Girija Kumari (Attingal) had to taste defeat in their respective constituencies.

The Aam Admi Party had fielded journalist Anita Pratap in Ernakulam and writer Sara Joseph in Thrissur, but both failed to make any mark.

Despite women outnumbering men in the state, only seven women--Anne Mascrene, who fought the elections in 1952 from the erstwhile Travancore-Cochin state; Susheela Gopalan, A K Premajam, Sathi Devi, C S Sujata (all CPI-M), Bhargavy Thankappan (CPI), besides Congress' Savithri Lakshmanan had made it to the lower House.