New Delhi. The results of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections are being announced this Tuesday, with several key candidates trailing. Two BJP stalwarts contesting for the first time in Telangana and Tamil Nadu are facing a possible defeat. Madhavi Latha from Hyderabad in Telangana and Annamalai from Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu are consistently trailing in the trends. In Maharashtra’s Amravati constituency, BJP candidate Navneet Rana is trailing Congress candidate Balwant Baswant Wankhede by over 21,000 votes. The BJP had reposed faith in Madhavi Latha for the Hyderabad seat and Annamalai for the Coimbatore seat, but both have failed to make any significant impact. According to the latest reports, Madhavi Latha is trailing AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi by over 200,000 votes in Hyderabad, while Annamalai is trailing DMK’s Ganapathi Rajkumar P by over 24,000 votes in Coimbatore. Both the candidates were contesting for the BJP for the first time.
Madhavi Latha’s journey: From actress to politician
Actress-turned-politician Madhavi Latha joined the BJP in 2018. She made her film debut in 2008 with a lead role in the successful film “Nachvule”, which won three Nandi Awards. She later starred in films such as “Snehituda” (2009), “Aravinda 2” (2013), and “Ambala” (2015). In the 2019 Andhra Pradesh Assembly election, she contested from the Guntur West constituency. Owaisi had secured 517,471 votes from Hyderabad in the 2019 elections, while BJP candidate Dr Bhagwant Rao got 235,285 votes, with Pusthe Srikanth of the TRS coming in third.
Exit polls had predicted Annamalai’s defeat
Coimbatore, the second largest city of Tamil Nadu, witnessed a tough fight between political heavyweights. BJP’s firebrand leader and Tamil Nadu state president K. Annamalai faced tough competition from DMK’s P. Ganapathi Rajkumar and AIADMK’s G. Ramachandran. Exit polls conducted by India Today-Axis My India had indicated that DMK’s Rajkumar could emerge victorious from Coimbatore. Despite this, Annamalai defied predictions and claimed victory. Currently, CPM leader P.R. Natarajan holds the Coimbatore seat. In the 2019 elections, he contested in alliance with DMK and Congress and secured 45.85% of the votes. BJP candidate C.P. Radhakrishnan came second with 31.47% of the votes.
DMK’s satire on Annamalai
Amid the election results, DMK workers celebrated in Coimbatore by distributing mutton biryani and mocking Annamalai. DMK supporters reached the party headquarters with goats with Annamalai’s picture hanging around their necks. In Tamil Nadu, Annamalai’s critics often mock him by calling him “Aadu”, which means goat.