CHENNAI: Many of Tamil Nadu’s best-known politicians did not begin their careers with a win at the ballot box. From chief minister M K Stalin to rivals in AIADMK, BJP and smaller Dravidian outfits, early defeats — often by narrow margins — marked their entry into direct elections.Stalin’s debut in the 1984 assembly elections from Thousand Lights ended in defeat, when he lost to AIADMK’s K A Krishnaswamy by just 2,292 votes. He had to wait until 1989 to register his first victory, again from Thousand Lights, defeating AIADMK’s Thambidurai by 30,184 votes.In the same year, former chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami entered the assembly by winning Edappadi, but only after losing his first contest in a local body election in 1986.MDMK general secretary Vaiko, who served three terms as a DMK Rajya Sabha MP for 18 years between 1978 and 1996, contested the 1996 Lok Sabha elections from Sivakasi on behalf of MDMK and lost to CPI by more than 30,000 votes. Three years later, Thol Thirumavalavan contested from Chidambaram on behalf of Dalit Panthers of India (now renamed VCK) and lost to PMK by more than 1.19 lakh votes. Vaiko’s first Lok Sabha win came in 1998 from Sivakasi, while Thirumavalavan, who became the head of VCK, opened his assembly account in 2001 from Mangalur in Cuddalore (now merged with Tittakudi constituency) on a DMK ticket with a margin of 1,855 votes.
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Some leaders, however, opened with victories. BJP’s Nainar Nagenthran, then in AIADMK, won Tirunelveli in 2001 by just 722 votes, while PMK’s Anbumani Ramadoss — who served as Union minister from Rajya Sabha — made his electoral debut in Dharmapuri in 2014, winning by more than 77,000 votes.Former chief minister O Panneerselvam entered elected office via a local body win in Periyakulam in 1996, went on to become its chairman, and in his first term as MLA in 2001 was sworn in as chief minister after J Jayalalithaa was barred by Supreme Court from holding office. Among newer aspirants, NTK chief Seeman, BJP state president K Annamalai and DMDK’s Premallatha Vijayakanth have all lost their debut assembly contests and are yet to secure a first electoral win.
