AIADMK defeat leads to suicides by cadres

Chennai, May 14 (UNI) At least ten AIADMK workers in Tamil Nadu have committed suicide or died of shock, unable to bear the party's defeat in the May eight assembly elections, leading to Party leader J Jayalalithaa making a fervent appeal to the cadres not to resort to extreme steps.

While four of the party's staunch supporters committed suicide by consuming poison, hanging and self-immolation, others died of shock and heart attack, party sources here said.

The victims included a 43-year-old Vasanthi, a mother of three children, who committed self-immolation, by pouring kerosene on herself. She had left a suicide note saying that she could only give her life to the party supremo, who, she said would be in a state of distress after losing the electoral battle.

In another incident, Gemini Ganesan, a 39-year-old party office-bearer committed suicide by consuming poison at Tirupattur in Vellore district of the state.

Similarly, Anandan from Central Chennai committed suicide by hanging himself, unable to bear the defeat of the party at the hustings. At musiri in Tiruchirapalli district, a party functionary died of shock, party sources here said.

The victims included C Balamurugan (43) of Kovilpatti, Kalimuthu (50) and Munusamy from Coimbatore District and Kannammal (53), a woman functionary and Sadhasivan from Dharmapuri District, the sources added.

Expressing grief and anguish, Ms Jayalalithaa, who announced financial assistance to the families of the victims, in a statement here also exhorted her party colleagues not to lose heart.

Stating that winning and losing were routine in electoral battles, she said this time, the AIADMK did not lose the elections as the party had secured additional vote share as the per centage of votes polled by the party showed.

''This clearly shows that the peopele are with us,'' she said and asked partymen to carry on party work without losing hope.

''Tomorrow is ours,'' she said.

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