Independents taking the plunge despite bleak fortune

Chennai, Apr 28 (UNI) Call it attention-seeking gimmic or adventurism, Independents taking on the political heavy-weights despite facing forfeiture of deposits, has become a regular feature in all elections.

And the May eight Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu is no exception.

As many as 1,222 Independent candidates are taking on prominent leaders and star candidates of various parties.

The number of Independents has been increasing with every election, and it touched a record 3857 candidates in the 1996 Assembly polls.

Their jumping into the electoral fray hardly alters the outcome, as their success percentage has been negligible, save for the 1971 polls in which ten of the 256 candidates entered the Assembly, the highest so far in the last 11 elections.

However, their presence sometime makes a difference in certain pockets where they wield enough clout, mostly when they are rebel candidates. A pointer to this was the victory of M.Appavu in Radhapuram, who contested as an Independent, after he was denied the ticket by the now-defunct Tamil Maanila Congress, when he sought re-election in the last polls.

A whopping number of 62 Independents were elected to the first Assembly in 1952 when Madras was then a composite State, comprising Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.

Since then, there has been a steady decline with 22 and five Independents winning the next two polls in 1957 and 1962. From 1971 onwards, the winning number has remained in single digit.

MORE UNI GV VV JN VV1618