By IANS,
Chennai : Lady luck did not smile on Panchayati Raj Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar of the Congress as he failed to retain the Mayiladuthurai Lok Sabha seat in Tamil Nadu for a third consecutive term, and fourth overall, losing to the AIADMK’s O.S. Maniyan by 36,000 votes.
For Maniyan it was sweet revenge as he had lost to Aiyar in 2004 by a huge margin.
Aiyar, 68, was elected from Mayiladuthurai in 1991, 1999 and 2004 and was confident that the new generation of voters would acknowledge his work in the constituency.
However, the anti-incumbency factor, the Sri Lankan Tamils’ issue and the unresolved Cauvery water dispute with Karnataka seems to have cost him the seat this time.
“The MMK party split the Muslim vote which in turn affected Aiyar’s prospects in Mayiladuthurai,” D. Sudharsanam, leader of Tamil Nadu Congress Legislature Party, told IANS.
Mayiladuthurai legislator S. Rajkumar said: “We also lost the fishermen’s vote totalling around 26,000. The DMKD party floated by Vijaykant too ate into our vote share to the extent of 40,000 votes.”
He said the Congress lost votes in the Poompuhar and Papanasam assembly constituencies.