MNM chief Kamal Hasaan loses Coimbatore South seat to BJP’s Vanathi Srinivasan in Tamil Nadu Assembly election

Chennai: The Actor-turned-politician and Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) chief Kamal Haasan who was contesting in Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, from the Coimbatore (South) constituency, lost the assembly seat on Sunday (May 2, 2021) after a neck-to-neck fight with BJP candidate Vanathi Srinivasan.

The early trends had shown Kamal Haasan was leading from the seat, but late on in the counting the BJP candidate pulled ahead with a margin of 1,540 votes and won. 

However, Kamal Haasan managed to secure about a third of the total vote share, which is 33.26 percent, while the BJP candidate Srinivasan scored 34.38 percent of the total votes. 

The DMK-led alliance scored an emphatic win in the state assembly polls.

Later in the evening, the actor-turned-politician took it to his official Twitter handle to thank all the people who voted for him and his party. 

“We accept the judgment of the people. Heartfelt thanks to the people who voted, to the members of the House of Representatives and to the Coalition Party ,” Kamla Haasan tweeted. 

மக்களின் தீர்ப்பை ஏற்றுக்கொள்கிறோம். வாக்களித்த மக்களுக்கும், தேர்தல் களத்தில் தோள் கொடுத்த மநீம உறுப்பினர்களுக்கும், கூட்டணிக் கட்சியினருக்கும் மனமார்ந்த நன்றிகள். (1/2)

— Kamal Haasan (@ikamalhaasan) May 2, 2021

MNM chief also congratulated DMK president MK Stalin on his victory. "Heartfelt congratulations to the big success MK Stalin. You are taking charge as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu in this time of crisis. My congratulations to perform well and taking Tamil Nadu on the path of development," Haasan tweeted.

On the other hand, BJP candidate Vanathi Srinivasan also took to Twitter to thank the people for their support. “We have won! Thank you Kovai South for your support & blessings. I bow down to my voters, to my leaders, PM @narendramodi ji, HM @AmitShah ji, Nat’l President @JPNadda ji, GS(O) @blsanthosh ji & all @BJP4TamilNadu karyakarta for their hard work & dedication (sic)," she wrote.

We have won! Thank you Kovai South for your support & blessings. I bow down to my voters, to my leaders, PM @narendramodi ji, HM @AmitShah ji, Nat'l President @JPNadda ji, GS(O) @blsanthosh ji & all @BJP4TamilNadu karyakarta for their hard work & dedication.#KovaiSouth4Vanathi

— Vanathi Srinivasan (@VanathiBJP) May 2, 2021

According to the Election Commission, the DMK has won 103 seats and is leading on 29 in the 234-member assembly.

AIADMK also won 54 seats and is leading on 13 while its ally BJP won three seats and is leading on a seat. Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) has won four seats and is leading on one other.

Congress, which was contesting the Tamil Nadu assembly elections as an ally of DMK, has won 10 seats and is leading on 8 more. DMK’s other allies including, CPI and CPI (M) have won two seats each. The Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) has won four.