Jaya takes oath as MLA

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Saturday took oath as a member of the legislative assembly after winning the <g data-gr-id="11">bye-election</g> held for the Radhakrishnan Nagar constituency. According to a government statement, Jayalalithaa took <g data-gr-id="10">oath</g> in the chambers of Speaker P. Dhanapal. Jayalalithaa won the bye-election by a huge margin, with major opposition parties like the DMK, the DMDK and others boycotting the poll on various pretexts. Jayalalithaa polled 160,432 votes, while her nearest rival, Communist Party of India's C. Mahendran got just 9,710 votes -- a victory margin of a whopping 150,722 votes. The Radhakrishnan Nagar seat fell vacant after AIADMK's P. Vetrivel resigned from the house to facilitate Jayalalithaa's re-election to the assembly.