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BJP Makes Surprising Inroads In South Chennai, Finishes Second – A Look At How The VIP Constituency Polled In LS Elections 2024

South Chennai was one of the keenly watched constituencies in Tamil Nadu. While it was rumoured that Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party State Secretary SG Suryah could have been given the ticket, ultimately, it was given to former Telangana Governor Tamizhisai Sounderarajan.

Splitting the parliamentary constituency into Assembly constituencies gives us a better picture of how the votes were polled. The South Chennai constituency comprises Virugambakkam, Saidapet, T Nagar, Mylapore, Velachery, and Sholinganallur Assembly constituencies.

Here is the Assembly constituency-wise vote percentage for DMK, AIADMK, and BJP in South Chennai:

Virugambakkam: DMK – 45.5% BJP – 28.7% AIADMK – 15.1%

Saidapet: DMK – 53.5% BJP – 19.9% AIADMK – 16%

T Nagar: DMK – 41% BJP – 36.3% AIADMK – 14.4%

Mylapore: DMK – 46.7% BJP – 28% AIADMK – 15.3%

Velachery: DMK – 45.2% BJP – 30.4% AIADMK – 13.7%

Sholinganallur: DMK – 47.9% BJP – 22% AIADMK – 17.2%

Overall, BJP finished second in the South Chennai constituency with about 26.44% vote share compared to DMK’s 47% and AIADMK’s 15.69%

It did come as a surprise for many to see the BJP finishing second in this VIP constituency since Tamizhisai Sounderarajan’s name was announced quite late in the process. Interestingly, the ADMK candidate J Jayavardhan even lost his deposit in this seat.

According to members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stationed at various counting centers, the party’s performance was surprisingly strong in several areas traditionally considered to be strongholds of other parties. These areas included Jafferkhanpet, West Mambalam, Abhiramapuram, Alwarpet, Teynampet, Nandanam, Royapettah, the core regions of Mylapore, Velachery, Kodambakkam, Ashok Nagar, T Nagar, and across Sholinganallur.

In one particular polling booth in T Nagar, a BJP booth agent revealed to The New Indian Express that the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) party managed to secure only seven votes, while the “None of the Above” (NOTA) option garnered six votes.

Adding to the BJP’s achievements, the party secured the highest number of postal votes, outperforming both the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the AIADMK in this category, further highlighting the party’s growing influence in the region.

Ward councillor of 135th Constituency (Member of Parliament Constituency No. 134) Uma Anandan shared details of her ward where BJP had garnered nearly 60% votes.

Total votes polled – 18,339 votes.

BJP – 10987 (59.92%)

DMK – 4272 (23.29%)

AIADMK – 1714 (9.35%)

It is noteworthy that Suryah had already set in motion the groundwork for the constituency – by interacting with the people, ensuring the symbol gets visibility by getting stickers pasted on autos, and volunteering, especially, during the floods in December 2023.

He also took several other initiatives like organising a “raja virundu” to honour hygiene workers and providing flood relief to the “narikaruvar” community last year.

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