Jaya registers thumping win in RK Nagar by-poll

Expressing joy and thanking the electorate for giving her a huge victory, Jayalalithaa said, “It is a historic win, I assure that I will tirelessly work to fulfil the voters’ expectations, and needs.”

Out of the total votes polled in the city constituency, a massive 88.43 <g data-gr-id="28">per cent</g> of the electorate had voted “for me which is historic,” she said. The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) chief had an unassailable lead of several thousand votes right from the start when counting began at 8 AM.

At the end of the 17th round, she secured 1,60,432 votes and Mahendran 9,710 votes out of the total 1,81,420 votes. Of these, 2376 were ‘None of the Above’ (NOTA) votes and 1,79,044 for the contestants. Maverick social activist ‘Traffic’ Ramaswamy managed to get 4,590 votes.

The by-election was necessitated following AIADMK’s P Vetrivel vacating the seat in May, apparently to enable Jayalalithaa seek re-election. She had to fulfil the constitutional requirement of getting elected as MLA within six months of becoming Chief Minister. The AIADMK chief said the <g data-gr-id="27">bypoll</g> was held as a forerunner to the next year’s assembly elections and indicated that her party was poised for a repeat of such a victory.

Tamil Nadu Governor K Rosaiah and Union Minister of State and senior BJP leader Pon Radhakrishnan were among those who congratulated Jayalalithaa on her massive win. The chief minister assured the electorate she would work for their welfare in keeping with the faith they had reposed in her.