2021 Assembly Elections: Manima prevents DMK from winning in Coimbatore

Tamil Nadu: In the 2021 Assembly elections, the DMK directly contested seven of the ten seats in Coimbatore, aiming to capture the Kongu division, a stronghold of the AIADMK.

The Coimbatore South seat was given to the Congress, the Sulur seat to the CPI(M), and the Valparai seat to the Communist Party of India. Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) party leader Kamal Haasan contested the Coimbatore South seat as the star candidate. He faced the AIADMK alliance candidate, Vanathi Srinivasan of the BJP, and the DMK alliance candidate, Mayura Jayakumar of the Congress. BJP candidate Vanathi Srinivasan won with 53,209 votes. MNM actor Kamal Haasan came in second with 51,481 votes, narrowly missing out on victory by a margin of 1,728 votes. Congress candidate Mayura S. Jayakumar came in third with 42,383 votes. In the last Assembly elections, AIADMK candidate P.R.G. Arunkumar won in Koundampalayam by securing 134,981 votes. DMK candidate P.A.R. Krishnan secured 124,557 votes and lost by a margin of 10,424 votes. Makkal Needhi Maiam candidate Surabi Pankaj secured 23,427 votes and came in third.

In the Coimbatore North constituency, AIADMK candidate Amman K. Arjunan won by securing 81,454 votes. DMK candidate Shanmugasundaram secured 77,453 votes and lost by a margin of 4,001 votes. Manima candidate Thangavel secured 26,503 votes and came in third.

In the Singanallur constituency, AIADMK candidate K.R. Jayaram won by securing 81,244 votes. DMK candidate N. Karthik won 70,390 votes, losing by a margin of 10,854 votes. Manima candidate R. Mahendran came in third with 36,855 votes.

In the Kinathukadavu constituency, AIADMK candidate C. Thamodharan won with 101,537 votes. DMK candidate Kurichi Prabhakaran lost with a margin of 100,442 votes. Manima candidate A. Siva came in third with 13,939 votes.

In the Pollachi constituency, AIADMK candidate V. Jayaraman won with 80,567 votes. DMK candidate K. Varadarajan won with 78,842 votes, losing by a margin of 1,725 ​​votes. Manima candidate V.D. Sathishkumar came in third with 7,589 votes. 33.26 percent of the vote share in Coimbatore South, 18.24 percent in Singanallur, 7.66 percent in Koundampalayam, 13.07 percent in Coimbatore North, 6.06 percent in Kinathukada, and 4.32 percent in Pollachi ensured the DMK’s defeat and the AIADMK’s victory. Notably, except for Mettupalayam, the DMK’s defeat in the remaining six seats, where the DMK contested directly, was due to Manima’s votes.

It can be assumed that Manima received votes against the DMK in the 2021 elections. Manima is in the DMK alliance for the 2026 assembly elections. However, Kamal Haasan has stated that he will support the DMK without contesting the assembly elections. In this new environment, only the elections will tell whether Manima’s votes will help the DMK win in Coimbatore.