The 2011 Tamil Nadu Assembly election results are no vindication of any quantum leap in the average voter’s astuteness, as is borne out in this analysis and is falsely alluded to by large sections of our society. The voter did not “punish” the DMK as it is made out to be and paradoxically, the Congress proved to be a liability for the DMK as opposed to the “neutralising” impact that everyone perceived it to be.

N Gopalaswami & Praveen Chakravarty: The myth of the astute voter