Most Tamil actors no show in general elections

Chennai, May 17 (IANS) Not-so-popular actors D. Napoleon and J.K. Ritheesh, contesting on DMK tickets, were able to register big victories in the Lok Sabha elections while the DMDK, AISMK, LDMK and NMK, led by actors Vijaykanth, Sarath Kumar, T. Rajendherr and Karthick, respectively, suffered total defeat.

Ritheesh contested as a DMK candidate from Ramanathapuram and won despite being pitted against the AIADMK's V. Sathiamoorthy and the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) S. Thirunavukkarasar. He has only done two films so far and none of them had fared well.

Napoleon, who was seen in Kamal Haasan's 'Dashavathaaram', won the Perambalur Lok Sabha seat.

However, well-known comedian Chandran, who had contested from Chennai Central as an AIADMK candidate, was trounced by former union minister Dayanidhi Maran.

But the biggest disappointment was Vijayakanth. His party Desiya Murpokku Dravidar Kazhagam (DMDK), launched just a few weeks before the last assembly elections in the state, lost on all the 40 seats it contested in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

Vijayakanth was so confident about securing two or three seats in the Lok Sabha that he refused to have an alliance with any major political parties in the state.

'My alliance is only with the people and with god. I am only depending on you (voters). We are facing this election alone and you should give us a chance to make our (DMDK) presence felt in New Delhi and take up with the centre, serious issues facing Tamil Nadu,' Vijayakanth had said while campaigning.

R. Sarath Kumar and Karthik, who had started their own political parties, too drew a blank.

Sarath Kumar had hoped that his Nadar community would support him in his political quest. For the Lok Sabha elections, he had struck an alliance with the BJP along with other four parties. His party had contested on five seats in Tirunelveli, Tuticorin, Tenkasi, Namakkal and Tirupur but all its candidates lost their deposits.

Actor Karthik, who belongs to the powerful Thevar community, is the founder of the Naadalum Makkal Katchi. Karthik's party was in grand alliance with BJP and had contested Virudhunagar and Theni. However, it lost on both the seats.