TN polls: M Karunanidhi has won all 12 contests so far, two by a whisker
Chennai, May 12: M Karunanidhi will contest the 13th Assembly election of his life on May 16 when Tamil Nadu will go to the polls. The DMK supremo and five-time chief minister of the southern state will contest from Tiruvarur, from where he had contested in 2011 and won by a record 50,249 votes.
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The leader, popularly known as Kalaignar and will turn 92 on June 3, has perhaps an unmatched cent per cent success record in all the 12 elections that he have contested since 1957. As a 33-year-old, Karunanidhi had contested his first election in Kulithalai Assembly constituency which was then in the composite Tiruchi district (currently in Karur district). [Tamil Nadu poll results: 1952-2011]
During campaigning this year, Karunanidhi, who will become the oldest chief minister if the DMK manages to win this electoral battle, sought votes as an "elder brother" while his son and DMK treasurer MK Stalin said his father was the "son of the soil" and himself the "grandson of the soil".
Karunanidhi will be challenged by the AIADMK's ANR Panneerselvam and CPI's S Masilamani, who is said to be a leader with a mass appeal, and will have the backing of the third front---the People's Welfare Front. The Thiruvarur constituency has won by either the DMK or the CPI(M) over the years.
A brief look at all 12 elections Karunandhi has contested since 1957:
-
Defeated
K
A
Dharmalingam
of
the
Congress
by
8,296
votes
at
Kulithalai
in
1957
-
Defeated
AYSP
Nadar
of
the
Congress
by
2,828
votes
at
Thanjavur
in
1962
-
Defeated
S
G
Vinayagamurthy
of
the
Congress
by
20,482
votes
at
Saidapet
in
1967
-
Defeated
N
Kamalingam
of
the
Congress
by
12,511
votes
at
Saidapet
in
1971
-
Defeated
G
Krishnamurthy
of
the
AIADMK
by
16,438
votes
at
Anna
Nagar
in
1977
-
Defeated
H
V
Hande
of
the
AIADMK
by
699
votes
at
Anna
Nagar
in
1980
-
Did
not
contest
the
1984
election
-
Defeated
K
A
Wahab
of
the
Muslim
League
by
31,991
votes
at
Harbour
in
1989
-
Defeated
K
Suppu
of
the
Congress
by
890
votes
at
Harbour
in
1991
-
Defeated
N
S
S
Nellai
Kannan
of
Congress
by
35,784
votes
at
Chepauk
in
1996
-
Defeated
R
Damodaran
of
the
Congress
by
4,834
votes
at
Chepauk
in
2001
-
Defeated
D
Miakhan
(Independent)
by
8,526
votes
at
Chepauk
in
2006
- Defeated M Rajendran of the AIADMk by 50,249 votes at Thiruvarur in 2011