RK Nagar By-Poll Campaigning Ends Today
Campaigning for the high-stakes 21 December RK Nagar bypoll will end on the evening of 19 December in Chennai, and the outcome of the hustings is likely to be seen as a report card of the 17-month old AIADMK government.
As per Election Commission’s directives, the political campaigning will end by 5 pm. The bypoll will cost the exchequer an unprecedented Rs 3 crore, making it the costliest election in India’s history, reported The Times of India.
The outcome of the by-election could serve as a report card of the ruling AIADMK, which faced turbulence after Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa’s death last year, which necessitated the bypoll.
The campaign witnessed the top leaders of various parties – Chief Minister K Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam of the AIADMK, DMK leader MK Stalin and sidelined AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran – reaching out to voters with hectic campaign schedules.
The Opposition is putting up a united show in a bid to to snatch victory. Many Opposition parties, including the Congress, the VCK, and the Left have backed DMK candidate N Maruthuganesh.
Dhinakaran, who fell out of favour with Palaniswami and also lost the battle for party's 'two leaves' symbol to the latter, is fighting as an Independent. He said he was confident that he could spring a surprise against the AIADMK's E Madhusudhanan as well as the DMK.
(With inputs from ANI, PTI and The News Minute)
NOTA Gets More Votes Than BJP Candidate in RK Nagar
The BJP candidate who contested the RK Nagar bypoll secured lesser votes than even NOTA (None of the Above).
While the main battle was confined to the giants - TTV Dhinakaran and AIADMK veteran E Madhusudhanan, in an interesting aside, NOTA pipped the saffron party's Karu Nagarajan.
As many as 2,373 voters from the constituency did not want to vote for anyone and pressed the EVM button for NOTA, while Nagarajan was left with a meagre 1,417 votes.
This was his second electoral failure in as many years.
AIADMK, DMK React To Defeat
As TTV Dhinakran’s victory has come as a huge setback to both dominating parties AIADMK and DMK, the huge margin of his victory is sure to embarrass AIADMK presidium chairman Madhusudhanan and the DMK's Marudhu Ganesh, who came second and third in the by-election.
AIADMK Minister Sellur K Raju told Times of India that these elections will not affect the party.
The AIADMK is a big tree and nobody has born to kill the tree. Some branches might fall but not the entire tree.Sellur K Raju, AIADMK Minister
As both parties are finding it hard to believe the results, DMK have went ahead and said that democracy has lost in the assembly constituency and money power has won. "Money has eaten all DMK votes. In RK Nagar constituency, money power has won and democracy has lost," DMK leader Durai Murugan said.
DMK leader MK Stalin also tweeted saying that the defeat in RK Nagar is not a loss for the party but a massive loss for the Election Commission. He further added that everyone should ask that whether handing out money can help the democracy.
Dhinakaran Addresses Media After Victory, Supporters Take it To Streets To Celebrate
After emerging victorious from RK Nagar, the seat previously held by Jayalalitha, TTV Dhinakaran addressed the media in Chennai.
Dhinakaran credited the victory to everyone who supported him saying, “It's a victory for all.” He also went on to refer to his rivals as “Villians”, saying, the two leaves symbol was a victory symbol when it was with amma. But now it's with villains, how can they win.
It’s a victory for all. This government will not be here for two more months. Two leaves symbol was a victory symbol when it was with Amma but now it’s with villains, how can they win?TTV Dhinakaran
As Dhinakaran adressed the media, his supporters took it to the streets to celebrate their victory, as they had been busy doing since the time Dhinakaran took lead.
TTV Dhinakaran Emerges Victorious, DMK Loses Deposit
After 19th and final round of voting, TTV Dhinakaran emerges as the MLA of RK Nagar, AIADMK a distant second and DMK loses its deposit.
The final tally of votes for the first three were as follow:
TTV Dhinakaran - 89,013
AIADMK - 47,115
DMK - 24,055