AIADMK set to retain power

Chennai: The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) on Thursday clearly headed to retaining power in the southern state of Tamil Nadu by winning 21 seats and leading in 110 other constituencies as arch rival Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) gave it a tough fight, bagging 19 and leading in 71 segments.

Of the 232 seats that were up for grabs on May 16, results were declared for 41 seats on Thursday. Congress won one seat and was leading in seven.

Chief Minister J. Jayalalitha, set to create history by becoming the first-ever leader to retain power in the state since 1984, is leading by more than 15,000 votes in Dr RK Nagar constituency in the city.

Her arch-rival, DMK president M. Karunanidhi, retained his Tiruvarur constituency by a huge margin, with more than 65,000 votes.

His son, DMK treasurer M.K. Stalin, is leading by more than 15,000 votes in Kolathur.

Addressing jubilant party workers, Jayalalitha called the victory a historic one and vowed to word hard for the people with renewed vigour.

The verdict had put a permanent end to “family politics” of the DMK, she said, adding she was indebted to the people forever.

Overwhelmed by the verdict, jubilant AIADMK workers burst crackers and distributed sweets across the state.

A large number of party cadre thronged Jayalalitha’s Poes Garden residence area and the party headquarters.

Although the DMK could not wrest power, it is clearly on the way to becoming a robust opposition party, winning a handsome number of seats, too.

Its allies, IUML and Puthiya Tamilagam, are leading in one constituency each.

DMK headquarters ‘Anna Arivalayam’ wore a deserted look with party leaders maintaining that the result declaration was yet to be made in respect of most seats.

The outcome of the elections showed the third front of DMDK-PWF (People’s Welfare Front)-TMC, Pataali Makkal Katchi and BJP were nowhere in the reckoning as the people rejected their bid to project themselves as an alternative to the Dravidian majors, DMK and AIADMK.

PMK, which went to voters with the slogan of “vote for change and development,” is leading in one constituency, Pappireddipatti in Dharmapuri district, by a comfortable margin of more than 5,000 votes.

But, its chief ministerial candidate Anbumani Ramadoss, who is also the Dharmpauri Lok Sabha MP, is in third place in Pennagaram and DMK candidate PNP Inbasekaran is leading by a margin of 10,000 votes over his nearest AIADMK rival K.P. Munusamy.

Similarly, DMDK chief and chief ministerial candidate of the DMDK-PWF-TMC combination, Vijayakanth, has been relegated to the third place in Ulundurpet segment.

Meanwhile, more than 5,55,000 Tamil Nadu voters were not happy with the candidates in the field and opted for “None of the Above” (NOTA) option, according to Election Commission of India.

According to the poll body, 555,383 voters in Tamil Nadu pressed the NOTA button on the electronic voting machines (EVMs) during the May 16 polls.

A total of 2,873 voters in the Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar constituency, where Jayalalitha was a contestant, preferred NOTA.

In Thiruvavur, from where DMK president M. Karunanidhi was elected, 2,177 voters preferred NOTA.

Tamil Nadu, with over 57.9 million registered voters, had recorded 74.26 per cent polling in the assembly polls held on May 16.

— with inputs from IANS