Bypolls: AIADMK emerges victorious in Thanjavur; leads in 2 other TN seats

New Delhi: AIADMK on Tuesday retained the Thanjavur Assembly constituency by a margin of over 25,000 votes and was surging ahead in two other segments in Tamil Nadu.

In Thanjavur, AIADMK candidate M Rengasamy won by a comfortable margin of over 25,000 votes against DMK candidate Anjugham Boopathy. At the end of the 20th and final round, Rengasamy secured 1,01,362 votes, while Boopathy polled 74,488 votes out of the total 1,86,444 votes.

In Aravakkurichi, AIADMK's V Senthil Balaji was leading by a good margin over his nearest DMK rival K C Palanisamy.

What began as a margin of nearly 2,000 votes at the end of the first round, went on to widen by the ninth round for Balaji, with the AIADMK candidate leading by a margin of over 13,000 votes. Balaji is leading by a margin of 18,506 votes at the end of 11th round out of the total scheduled 18 rounds.

In Thirupparankundram Assembly segment, AIADMK candidate A K Bose was ahead by a comfortable margin over his nearest rival, DMK candidate P Saravanan.

Bose was leading by 34,345 votes at the end of 17th round out of the total of 18 rounds, the counting for which is expected to complete shortly.

Congress nominee and Chief Minister V Narayanasamy proved his mettle on Tuesday morning, as he won the Puducherry by-election in  Nellithoppe, which witnessed a fierce electoral battle between him and and AIADMK's Om Sakthi Sekar.

Narayanasamy who is not a member of the territorial assembly had emerged as compromise candidate for Chief Minister's post after May 16 assembly elections.

This election was crucial for him as his continuance in the post depended on the outcome of the by-poll. For Om Sakthi Sekar, two time MLA from the constituency, the electoral battle was an opportunity to prove himself after the defeat in the last Assembly elections.

The counting of votes of the Nellithoppe assembly by-election had begun early Tuesday morning and say Narayanasamy seal his position as Puducherry's Chief Minister.

Counting of votes took place for four Lok Sabha and eight Assembly Constituencies, spread across six States and one Union Territory where by-elections were held on Saturday.

The Lok Sabha seats are Lakhimpur in Assam, Shahdol in Madhya Pradesh and Coochbehar and Tamluk Parliamentary seats in West Bengal, while the Assembly seats were in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Tripura and the Union Territory of Puducherry.

In Tripura, the counting of votes for by-poll in Barjala and Khowai assembly constituencies began at 8 am amidst tight security. CPIM won both the assembly seats in the state.

In Assam, the counting of votes for Lakhimpur Lok Sabha and Baithalangso assembly by polls is being held amid tight security. Over 66 percent polling was reported at Lakhimpur Lok Sabha seat while over 74 percent voters exercised their voting rights at Baithalangso assembly seat.

Five candidates are in the fray for the Lakhimpur seat while political fate of three candidates will be decided at Baithalangso assembly seat. Both the seats are likely to witness straight contest between the NDA and the Congress.

The outcome of the bypoll will be the first test for the Sarbanand Sonowal led BJP government as well as newly appointed state Congress President Ripun Bora.