The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) has registered comfortable victories in the byelection held to the ward 15 and ward 32 of the Tiruchirappalli City Corporation.
Right from the start of counting of votes on Monday, the AIADMK candidate M. Rajalakshmi, who fought the election from ward 15, gained good lead over her nearest candidate B. Rathika of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
In the end, Ms. Rajalakshmi defeated her BJP rival by a margin of 5,269 votes. While the AIADMK candidate got 6,807 votes, Ms. Rathika secured 1,538 voters. The AIADMK got more votes in all 13 polling stations.
In the ward 32, the fight was between R. Sankar of the AIADMK and G. Ramesh, a former DMK councillor who fought the election as an Independent.
Although Mr. Ramesh put up a stiff fight, the AIADMK candidate defeated him by a margin of 658 votes. Out of 2,800 votes, Mr. Sankar secured 1,640 votes and G. Ramesh got 982 votes. The Bharatiya Janata Party candidate T. Ramachandran managed to secure just 41 votes.
With these wins, the strength of AIADMK in the 65-member council has gone up to 43. V.P. Thandapani, Commissioner cum Returning Officer, gave away the election certificates to Ms. Rajalakshmi and Sankar.
Overjoyed AIADMK cadre took out a victory march and garlanded the MGR statue at Cantonment. They burst crackers and distributed sweets to the passersby as a mark of victory.
This was the first time the AIADMK managed to win in ward 32 since the formation of Tiruchirappalli City Corporation in 1995. The DMK had been winning here in successive elections. The AIADMK lost to the DMK by a slender margin in the last election.
