In a major twist in Tamil Nadu politics, sidelined AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran trounced his opponents to win the crucial by-election for the Radhakrishnan Nagar (RK Nagar) by a massive margin of over 40,000 votes.
After 19 rounds of vote counting, Dhinakaranm who was fighting as an independent polled 89,013 votes, crushing his nearest rival AIADMK’s Madhusudhanan who bagged 48,306 votes while DMK’s Marudhu Ganesh got 24,651 votes.
The high-stakes constituency that fell vacant after the death of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa was a prestige battle between Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami, his deputy O Panneerselvam of the AIADMK and Dhinakaran.
The victory is a shot in the arm for the Sasikala-Dhinakaran camp which had been marginalised by Palaniswami and Panneerselvam after Jaya’s demise.
From the start, Dinakaran was in the lead and the gap between him and the rivals got widened when the counting progressed.
Declaring himself as the “true political heir” of Jayalalithaa, Dhinakaran, the nephew of Sasikala thanked the voters and vowed to bring down the government in the state “within three months”.
Speaking to reporters at the Madurai airport, Dhinakaran predicted that the government headed by Palaniswami will fall in three months time. He said the people in RK Nagar have reflected the views of the Tamil Nadu’s populace.
Many believe that the outcome of the by-election is being seen as a verdict on the ruling AIADMK which has faced turbulence after the demise of Jayalalithaa.
Polling on the seat was held on December 21.