Poll analysis: DMK benefitted from anti-incumbency ongress brought substantial gains for DMK-led Front; BJP was a liability for the AIADMK; Kamal Haasan was defeated by a BJP woman candidate; Sasikala protégé vanquished; Khushboo loses too. By M A Siraj| Published: 5th May 2021 3:02 pm IST M.K. Stalin Tamil Nadu has witnessed the return of the DMK to the saddle of power after a hiatus of ten years. The party while bagging 133 seats (out of total 234) has ensured victory of Congress candidates on 18 seats. The two communist parties—CPI and the CPM—which won two seats each and the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi with its four seats have taken the DMK-led front’s tally to 159. That DMK was set to capture power at the St. Fort George had become evident during the 2019 Lok Sabha election itself when the DMK alliance made a clean sweep of 38 of the 39 seats from the State. However, AIADMK which performed poorly then seems to have recovered a lot of lost ground as the party won 66 seats on its own and enabled its principal ally, the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) to bag five seats and the BJP another four.