The AIADMK, which could manage to come third in the Pennagaram by-election also had to suffer the ignominy of losing its deposit, after the results were declared on Tuesday.

Despite the facts that AIADMK candidate T R Anbazhagan belonged to the dominant Vanniyar community in the constituency and party general secretary J Jayalalithaa had campaigned for him on poll eve, the party could not even finish second, a place grabbed by the PMK.

The AIADMK candidate managed to get only 26,787 votes.
Similarly, the DMDK candidate K G Kaverivarman secured only 11,406 votes and lost his deposit.

PMK’S ‘FORMULA’: The Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK)’s ‘Pennagaram formula’ helped it to win only the second place in the by-poll.

Though party founder leader Dr S Ramadoss did not disclose throughout the Pennagaram campaign what the Pennagaram formula was, his party commenced its campaign as early as December last itself.

Ramadoss and his son and former Union minister Anbumani Ramadoss campaigned for their party candidate focusing more on the caste factor.
This was done to counter the DMK’s ‘Tirumangalam formula’ of ‘money and caste’ (panam and inam). Despite such a long campaign by the two senior leaders, PMK candidate Tamilkumaran could manage only the second spot, polling 41,285 votes.

MK’S IMPACT: The special invitation that Chief Minister and DMK leader M Karunanidhi offered to Pennagaram constituency voters at the fag end of the DPA’s campaign seemed to have had its effect.

Karunanidhi at that meeting had said he had not come to seek votes for his party’s candidate but to invite the people to visit the newly constructed Assembly complex at Chennai.

Though it would not be possible for all to visit the complex, they could send P N P Inbasekaran (DMK candidate) as their representative, he had said. And the 36,384-vote victory margin of the DMK candidate indicated that his appeal had gone down well with the electorate.