Erode (Tamil Nadu): The ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu extended its winning run in elections on Saturday by emerging victorious in the Erode East by-poll with a massive margin against actor-politician Seeman’s NTK, a victory that should come as a major boost to the M K Stalin-led party ahead of next year’s Assembly elections.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam candidate V C Chandhirakumar trounced Naam Tamilar Katchi’s (NTK) M K Seethalakshmi by a margin of 91,558 votes. In the process, NTK, a Tamil nationalist organization, forfeited the deposit.
Chief Minister and DMK president Stalin said his party registered a huge victory on Periyar’s (rationalist leader E V Ramasamy) soil. Erode is the native district of Ramasamy, a Dravidian stalwart. The win was a recognition of the DMK government’s good governance.
AIADMK chief and Leader of Opposition, Edappadi K Palaniswami, described the DMK’s win as “fake,” saying there was “nobody on the ground,” referring to the main opposition party and others keeping away from the contest.
With 44 other candidates– most of them independents, in fray, NOTA (None of the Above) grabbed the third place with 6,109 votes.
