Joy knew no bounds for AIADMK cadres as the party won in four out of six assembly constituencies – Vilathikulam, Srivaikuntam, Kovilpatti and Ottapidaram (Reserved) – in the district. Counting began at 8 a.m. amidst tight security at Government Polytechnic College in Thoothukudi. DMK managed to secure victory in Thoothukudi and Tiruchendur constituencies. Though several parties were in the fray, the contest was straight only between the AIADMK and DMK. While the AIADMK sitting MLAs S.P. Shamuganathan and C. Raju from Srivaikuntam and Kovilpatti constituencies and K. Uma Maheswari from Vilathikulam constituency emerged victorious, Anitha R. Radhakrishnan, sitting MLA from Tiruchendur constituency and P. Geetha Jeevan from Thoothukudi secured win for the DMK.
With 87,047 votes, Anitha Radhakrishnan, the three-time sitting MLA from Tiruchendur constituency, has won for the fourth consecutive term from the same constituency by a massive victory margin of 26,001 votes over AIADMK’s R. Sarathkumar, who could manage to get only 62,146 votes.
The DMK candidate of Thoothukudi, Geetha Jeevan, who emerged victorious with 88,045 votes, enjoyed a healthy lead over her nearest rival, S.T. Chellapandian, sitting MLA of AIADMK, who polled 67,137 votes, at every round and maintained the same till the final round of counting. She won by a margin of 20,908 votes.
In Srivaikuntam, there seemed a close contest between the AIADMK candidate Shanmuganathan and the Congress candidate Rani Venkatesan in every round. At last, the AIADMK won by a margin of 3,531 votes. The AIADMK secured 65,198 votes against the Congress, which got 61,667 votes.
However, it was a close contest between AIADMK and DMK in Kovilpatti and Ottapidaram as the AIADMK won by a slight margin. Having secured 64,514 votes in Kovilpatti, the AIADMK candidate, Raju, took a slender victory margin of 428 votes over DMK’s A. Subramanian, who garnered 64,086 votes. Since the counting began, there was a lead of about 500 to 1000 votes at every round, but gradually the margin increased to favour the AIADMK candidate in Kovilpatti. On the other side, K. Krishnasamy, president of Puthiya Tamilagam and sitting MLA, who contested in the DMK ticket from Ottapidaram (Reserved) constituency, took a steady lead over AIADMK’s R. Sundararaj until the penultimate round. Ultimately, he was defeated by a small margin of 493 votes. Dr. Krishnasamy managed to get 64,578 votes while Sundararaj secured 65,071 votes and won.
Vilathikulam proved to be a stronghold of AIADMK this time too as K. Uma Maheshwari, the party candidate got a total of 71,250 votes and defeated her nearest rival S. Beemaraj of DMK by a margin of 18, 985 votes. The DMK candidate got only 52, 265 votes. In the three previous elections, this constituency saw the victory of the AIADMK.
