DNA Edit: AIADMK upstaged

Electoral defeat can bring out the worst in political parties, and AIADMK has proved to be a sore loser. The drubbing in the RK Nagar byelection, that too by a glaring margin, at the hands of arch-rival TTV Dhinakaran, has provoked extreme reactions from the party, resulting in the expulsion of nine leaders. Those axed are presumably guilty of conniving with the nephew of VK Sasikala, the deposed leader who was once a close confidante of Jayalalithaa, and is now a ‘political untouchable’. The AIADMK is finding it hard to believe that it has been outsmarted by an Independent candidate.

The bypoll was a prestige fight for the party, which would have used the victory to reinforce its status as the true inheritor of Amma’s legacy. At this point, soul-searching has become a luxury for the party leadership. What’s imperative is to find scapegoats to pin the blame on. It has also raised allegations of bribery with the Election Commission in an effort to rationalise its misfortune. The AIADMK had failed to read the signs of the Thevar community, which voted in large numbers out of a persecution complex that Dhinakaran tapped into. He had cannily drawn sympathy from the perception that he was a victim of the excesses of central agencies.

Despite being called a don by his adversaries, Dhinakaran clearly had a way with voters who saw him as an angel fallen from grace. He has smartly packaged the referendum as a public indictment against the EPS-OPS-led AIADMK government. This round belongs to Dhinakaran unless his rivals can pull a rabbit out of the hat. The ruling coalition should admit its failure of running a disinterested campaign when so much was at stake. It should be wary of Dhinakaran’s potential to engineer a split in a disgruntled, shaky coalition.