New Delhi: Regional parties from West Bengal, Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have somehow managed to hold on to their turfs, bucking the trend of a nationwide surge of the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls.
The DMK appears to be sweeping Tamil Nadu and is set to bag 23 of the 23 seats in the state it contested. Five BJP Lok Sabha candidates in the state, including Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan, appeared set for a crushing defeat, trailing by over 2.5 lakh votes.
Radhakrishnan had won from Kanyakumari in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, defeating his nearest rival Vasanthakumar by 1,28,662 votes.
Tamil Nadu BJP chief Tamilisai Soundararajan too is set to bite the dust in the port city of Tuticorin since the margin between her and the DMK candidate Kanimozhi has jumped to over 3.40 lakh votes.
Senior BJP leader H Raja, known for his controversial remarks is behind Congress candidate Karti Chidambaram by a margin of over three lakh ballots in Sivaganga constituency.
DMK’s ally Congress appears set to win eight, IUML one and CPI (M) and CPI two each. Besides, MDMK, VCK and KMDK and IJK had contested one seat each on the DMK symbol.
In Telangana too, it seems to be a sweep for the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) which has already won five of the 17 seats in the state and are leading in four more. The BJP in comparison has won one seat and is leading in other three.
In Andhra Pradesh, the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRC) is ahead in 22 seats of the state’s 25 seats, ahead of the Telugu Desam Party which is leading in the other three.
In West Bengal, the Mamata Banerjee led Trinamool Congress (TMC) has won six seats and is leading in 16 more, but the BJP has made significant inroads into the state by increasing its tally from the present two to potentially 18 seats, according to the latest trends.
In Odisha, Naveen Patnaik led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) is leading in 13 seats, while the BJP is ahead in eight, according to latest trends. However, the saffron party appeared set for major gains in the state where they had won only one Lok Sabha seat in 2014.
The BJD had a spectacular show in the 2014 polls by winning 20 of the 21 Lok Sabha seats.
