'Yo-yo' be damned. Jaya returns to power smoothly

J Jayalalitha broke a three-decade-long trend when her party, All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Khazagam (AIADMK), emerged victorious in the elections to the Tamil Nadu Assembly.

The southern-most state of India has been yo-yoing between arch-rivals AIADMK and Dravida Munnetra Khazagam (DMK) since the mid-1980s. Going by that, this was the turn of Jayalalitha's bete-noire, DMK head M Karunanidhi to claim the CM's chair.

Read- Election Results 2016: Karunanidhi wins Tiruvarur constituency, son Stalin retains Kolathur

In fact, the nonagenarian leader recently underscored that it would be he who would be the CM if DMK wins. His son, 63-year-old MK Stalin, would have to wait it out.

Jayalalitha, however, brought to nought his dream of a sixth term at the state's helm - AIADMK was set to bag 133 of the state's 232 seats, at 4 pm. DMK could boast of only 88.

Evidently, anti-incumbency didn't hit 'Puratchi Thalaivi' Jayalaitha's government too hard. Of course, her tally has reduced from 203 in 2011; but that's about it.

Here are five key takeaways from the decisive mandate:

1) Corruption charges couldn't dent Jayalitha's popularity much: She was sentenced to four years in prison by a special court in Bengaluru in the Disproportionate Assets Case on 27 September, 2014 and had to vacate the chief minister's chair until the Karnataka High Court acquitted her on 11 May, 2015. In the meantime, O Panneerselvam - a Jaya confidant - kept the hot seat for her.

2) Welfare state pays. Both AIADMK and DMK have resorted to so-called populism to its citizens and have been panned by critics for doing so. Jaya took it to another level this time with Amma Water, Amma Canteens etc. Yes, prices of milk did go up as did bus fares, but they couldn't take the sheen off well-thought out schemes.

Also read- Tamil Nadu election results 2016: Jayalalithaa says all promises in manifesto will be fulfilled

3) DMK is yet to find its credibility back as a viable alternative to govern the state. This is the third electoral failure in a row for the party, after the drubbing it received in the 2011 Assembly polls and the 2014 parliamentary elections. The fact that Karunanidhi had to come out and say that he would be the CM, and not Stalin, indicate confusion within the party. Stalin's rivalry with elder brother MK Alagiri didn't help matters much. Also, people were still wary of the party's alleged involvement in the telecom scam.