Chennai: As the election campaign drew to a close, DMK functionaries in Kolathur constituency had aimed for a victory margin of over 75,000 votes for Chief Minister M K Stalin. However, Stalin lost to TVK's V S Babu by 8,795 votes, a result that surprised the party.
Reasons for the Defeat
DMK's Kolathur area secretary Nagarajan termed the defeat unexpected, despite extensive campaigning and government projects worth hundreds of crores in the constituency. Besides a wave in favor of actor-politician Vijay's TVK, internal party infighting at the micro level proved decisive.
Infighting and Lack of Coordination
A DMK functionary revealed that area secretaries neglected booth-level management. A senior minister in charge of Kolathur created parallel power centers at the grassroots, and party workers could not reach the Chief Minister with their grievances, causing heartburn among cadres.
V S Babu, who knew DMK's workings well, capitalized on this. He played a key role when Stalin first won Kolathur in 2011 as DMK's North Chennai district secretary and had been Purasawalkam MLA from 2006 to 2011. Babu switched to AIADMK a decade ago and joined TVK just before this election.
Overconfidence and Unaddressed Issues
AIADMK's North Chennai district minority wing secretary A Abbas said DMK's overconfidence worked against them. Basic problems in Kolathur—such as poor roads, sewage mixing with drinking water, and rainwater stagnation—have persisted for 15 years. The DMK government launched fancy schemes with photo-ops but failed to address these core issues, leading to public anger.
Historical Context
A large part of Kolathur was once part of Purasawalkam, which DMK won in 1984 despite a sympathy wave for MGR's AIADMK. This time, traditional DMK supporters switched allegiance, contributing to Stalin's loss.
