Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa on Tuesday won the by-election to Dr Radhakrishnan Nagar Assembly constituency, defeating CPI candidate C Mahendran by a huge margin of 150,000 votes. Mahendran secured 9,710 votes.
Securing all postal votes, Jayalalithaa continued to lead with a relatively high margin from the first round to 17th round of counting. The former MLA from this constituency, P Vetrivel, received the certificate of election in Form 22, declaring Jayalalithaa elected.
A record 74.4 per cent turnout of voters marked the by-election. The Election Commission ordered re-poll in one of the booths after an observer reported that the presiding officer allowed some voters “not duly enrolled in the electoral roll”. Turnout in the re-poll was 85.54 per cent.
Vetrivel vacated the seat in May to enable Jayalalithaa to seek re-election post her acquittal by the Karnataka High Court in a disproportionate assets case. AIADMK cadres celebrated their leader's victory by bursting crackers, distributing sweets and dancing in front of party headquarters and at Jayalalithaa's Poes Garden residence.
As many as 28 candidates were in the fray. Most of them will lose the deposits. The constituency recorded a 74.4% turnout when polling was held on Saturday. Opposition parties, including DMK, DMDK, BJP, Congress, MDMK and PMK, had boycotted the election alleging that the ruling party would not ensure a fair poll.
