TTV Dinakaran romps home in RK Nagar

Dinakaran garnered more than half of the total votes polled and his vote-share accounted for a whopping 50.32 per cent. It was slightly lesser than that of late former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa who garnered 97,218 votes, accounting for 55.87 per cent vote-share.

His nearest rival and AIADMK candidate E Madhusudhanan managed to corner 48,306 votes to retain his deposit while the rest 57, including DMK candidate N Marudhu Ganesh, lost their deposits. The counting reached a fever pitch in the first round itself as the ruling dispensation supporters resorted to violence despite the tight security and surveillance in the counting centre.

Notwithstanding Dinakaran’s lead, a section of AIADMK’s supporters flung chairs at his men and paramilitary personnel were called in to control the situation. District Election Officer D Karthikeyan termed the incident as “being controlled with intervention of policemen,” and the counting process resumed after the ousting of trouble-makers. Right from the first round at the counting centre in Queen Mary’s College, Dinakaran was ahead of his rivals in every round.

The exception was the lone valid postal vote cast by an armed forces voter who favoured Marudhu Ganesh. The major contender kept his nearest rival behind at a margin of nearly 3,000 votes in every round except for Round 14 in which the difference between the two was only 627 votes.

Principal Opposition DMK which had forged a grand alliance with Left parties, CPI (M) and CPI, Congress, VCK, IUML, and MDMK, among others, hung on to the third spot, and their common candidate Marudhu Ganesh secured 24,651 votes. Naam Tamilar Katchi candidate Kalikottuthayam finished fourth with 3,860 votes while None of the above (NOTA) registered 2,373 votes. BJP candidate Karu Nagarajan followed with 1,417 votes. BSP candidate AC Sathyamurthy secured 359 votes.